Dream or Reality? Part 2
by Dede42
Summary: Dom Cobb and his friends, Arthur and Emma, are in the dream world with their team in order to perform Inception on their target: Robert Fisher; however they are risking their lives and this could be the end for them all. Will the team survive?
1. Chapter 1: PLANE RIDE

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I'm back with part two of my story! I hope you all enjoy it.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE: PLANE RIDE**

Four days later, the team was scattered about the airport, waiting to board, and Cobb joined Saito at the large window next to the departure gate, where they watched as a silver-toned coffin was being loaded onto the 747.

"If I get on this plane and you haven't taken care of things," Cobb reminded him, "when we land I go to jail for the rest of my life."

"Complete the job en route, I make _one_ phone call from the plane," Saito promised. "You will have no trouble clearing immigration."

'_I hope so,'_ Cobb thought, still staring at the plane and hoped that they _were_ successful for his own sake.

* * *

When it was announced that it was time to board the plane, Cobb walked through the hallway with Yusuf and Emma just ahead of him, Eames right behind, and a few feet back, was Robert Fischer; he entered the first-class cabin, which had only ten seats with five going down one side, two in the back, and three going down the other side.

Emma, who was sketching something in her sketchpad, and Yusuf were already seated in the back seats, neither of them making eye contact with Cobb, who noted that Ariadne, who was sitting cross-legged in her seat and was reading a book, and Saito were already seated opposite him; he was putting his bag in the compartment when Arthur entered and took the seat directly behind Ariadne, and he sat down as Robert entered, his way blocked by Eames, who was taking off his coat.

"Excuse me," said Robert politely when the older man accidentally bumped him with his elbow.

"Oh, sorry." Eames apologized, squeezing up against his seat, allowing Robert, who politely nodded, to pass and get to his seat, which was in front of Cobb's; he then slipped Robert's passport, which he'd pinched, into Cobb's hand before sitting down.

Cobb quickly checked the photo inside, pocketed the passport and then handed his coat to the stewardess when she offered to hang it up, along with Eames' and Robert's; ten minutes later, the 747 hurtled down the runway and took to the air, making him grip his armrest slightly. _'It's official, I hate planes more then I hate trains,'_ he decided.

* * *

Ten minutes into the flight, Cobb taped a tiny vial to the center of his hand, pulled out the passport, and watched until the seatbelt sign turned off; unbuckling, he leaned forward and tapped Robert's shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Robert glanced toward him. "Yes?"

"I think this is yours," said Cobb, handing him the passport, "you must've dropped it."

Surprised, Robert checked his pockets and then accepted it, relieved, as the stewardess came up to them.

"Would you gentlemen care for a drink?" she asked politely.

"Water, please," Cobb requested.

"Same," Robert agreed, flipping through his passport to make sure that it was intact, and then gave Cobb a small smile. "Well, thank you."

"No problem," Cobb assured him. "Look, I couldn't help noticing your name. You're not related to _the_ Maurice Fischer?"

Robert hesitated for a moment and then nodded, pocketing his passport. "Actually, he was my father."

Cobb nodded. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he said honestly. "He was an inspiring figure." Just then the stewardess arrived with two glasses of ice water; removing the cap from the vial, took the drinks, pouring a clear liquid into the one that he handed to Robert. "To Maurice Fischer," he said, clicking their glasses together and they drank. "I'll leave you in peace."

Robert smiled at him, sipped his water a second time, and then set the glass down, settling in his seat for the long flight ahead.

* * *

Now thirty minutes into the flight, Cobb stood, opened a compartment, and removed a blanket, which he then let drop onto Robert's lap, and the young man didn't even react, not even when Cobb reached down and shook his shoulder.

Robert Fischer was dead to the world.

Cobb nodded to his team and the stewardess closed the curtain, opened an cupboard in the galley, pulled out the silver briefcase, and handed it to Arthur before closing the other curtain in order to give them _complete_ privacy; setting the case down a mini table located in the _exact_ center of the cabin, Arthur opened it and the team proceeded to pull out the tubing.

Cobb rolled up Robert's sleeve-cuff, taped the tubes to his wrist, rolled the cuff back down, and then grabbed a new set of tubes for himself; Yusuf double-checked that everything was working properly before sitting down to strap on his own tubing while Emma, Eames, Cobb, Arthur, Ariadne, and Saito repositioned their seats in order to be more comfortable, and then the stewardess came back in.

The stewardess knelt in front of the case, waiting as Yusuf took one more sip of his champagne, settled back, and nodded at her; returning the nod, she pushed the large button, sending the mixture of drugs through the eight sets of tubing, putting both the entire team and their target into a _very_ deep sleep.

* * *

Down in the dream, Yusuf, who was now wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt, dark slacks, and dark trainers, groaned when he realized that it was pouring rain._ 'The others are going to be _so_ angry,'_ he thought dejectedly, standing on a street corner with the collar of his dark coat turned up against the rain, and gripped a silver briefcase in one hand.

Soon, a red sedan pulled up along the sidewalk and he hurried forward as the door was shoved open by Arthur and he quickly climbed inside, squeezing in next to Arthur, who was wearing a red leather jacket over a blue shirt, blue jeans, and boots, and Saito, who was wearing his typical black business suit in the backseat while Cobb, who was wearing an outfit similar to Arthur's, was upfront driving.

"Couldn't you have peed _before_ you went under?" Arthur asked, nodding to the storm raging outside.

"Sorry," Yusuf apologized, wiping the rainwater out of his eyes as Cobb resumed driving until he found Eames, who was already soaking wet, standing on a different street corner in a light gray business suit.

Eames got into the front seat and pulled on his seatbelt. "Bit too much free champagne before takeoff, Yusuf?" he teased.

Yusuf scowled at him. "Ha bloody ha."

Cobb peered through the windshield at the pouring rain. "At least we know he'll be looking for a cab in this weather." He then pulled out into the heavy traffic, weaving through the various cars until he spotted a yellow taxicab a few car lengths ahead of them, and he quickly lined up behind it. "Brace yourselves," he ordered and then hit the gas.

The car lurched forward and collided with the back of the taxi with a loud crunch that made the men all wince.

"Cobb, I don't think killing the car is a good idea right now," Arthur pointed out. "You still need to pick up the girls."

Cobb just shrugged and grabbed his gun as the angry taxi driver got out of the cab and stalked toward them through the rain.

"Hey, asshole!" the driver shouted, storming toward the red car. "Why don't you try driving without your thumb up-" he froze when Cobb aimed his gun through the window and at his face, the words dying on his lips.

"Walk away," Cobb ordered, gesturing with the gun, and the cab driver fled the area.

Moving quickly, Arthur and Saito jumped back out into the rain, ran to the cab, and quickly climbed inside; pulling into traffic with Cobb following, Arthur drove toward a business building, turning off the radio that was playing some Spanish rap song. Pulling up next to the building, he spotted Robert, who was talking on his cell, and stopped when the young businessman waved him down.

"Third and Market," Robert requested as he climbed into the backseat. "Snappy." And then Eames, getting back out into the rain, ran up and slipped inside the cab, too. "What're you doing?" he asked, surprised to see him.

"Sorry, I thought it was free," Eames said cheerfully. "Maybe we could share."

Robert scowled. "Maybe not," he snapped. "Driver, can you please pull over and-" his eyes went wide when Saito, who'd been crouched down, suddenly straightened up and was aiming a gun at him. "Great," he sighed while Eames smiled. _'Of _all_ the time to be kidnapped.'_

* * *

While Arthur drove off with Robert, Cobb pulled over to the sidewalk, and both Ariadne, who was wearing a dark jacket over a pale yellow shirt, a colorful bandanna, jeans, and boots, and Emma, who was wearing an outfit identical to Arthur's, ran through the rain, already soaked, and they climbed inside: Emma in the back with Yusuf, and Ariadne in the front with Cobb.

"Come on," said Cobb, and he began pulling out into the intersection-

_BLAM!_

-the sedan was knocked sideways as a freight train barreled down the street, chewing up the road and was knocking the cars about like bowling pens; the quartet, shaken up by the collision, stared at the train in shock. Where on _Earth_ did that train come from?!

* * *

Unaware of what was going on behind them, Arthur was driving down the road, and Robert, who was looking more annoyed then scared, pulled out his wallet and tossed it to Eames, who caught it easily.

"There's 500 dollars in there," Robert told them contemptuously. "And the wallet's worth more than that," he added. "For that you ought to at least drop me at my stop."

"I'm afraid-" Eames began and then yelped when a bullet suddenly shattered the window next to his head, and he ducked, along with Robert; a second shot forced Saito to duck, too. "Get us out of here!"

Arthur slammed his foot on the gas pedal, skidding across the wet ground, and then had to hit the brakes when a black SUV suddenly blocked their way, bringing traffic to a complete stop; cursing, he looked back, putting the taxi in reverse, and had to stop again when a second SUV blocked that end of the intersection. They were trapped!

"Cover him!" he ordered, and Eames quickly covered Robert's head with a cloth bag, making sure that he didn't get hit by the attacking men, who were climbing out of the SUVs, firing their guns at the taxi while the people in the cars ran for their lives, and Saito fired at the armed men, and Eames did the same while Arthur tried to find a way to get them out of there, while wondering where Cobb and the others were right now.

* * *

"Where'd that come from?!" Emma exclaimed, gaping at the train, which was still rushing down the street, blocking their way. "Cobb? Anyone?"

"This wasn't in the design," Ariadne gasped, and then stared at Cobb, who was staring, transfixed at the train, almost as if he was in a trance. "Cobb? Cobb?"

"Cobb!" Emma shouted. "The others need us!"

Pulling himself together, Cobb reversed the car and began driving backwards, looking for a way to get past the train.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arthur, Eames, Saito, and Robert were still under attack by the armed men, who had them pinned; Arthur kept crashing into the cars around them, trying to find a way out while Saito and Eames fired their guns out the ruined windows, trying to drive the attackers away.

At one point, the window near Arthur's head was shot out, forcing him to duck as one of the attackers drew closer, and he straightened up, firing his own gun, killing the advancing man, and then he returned his attention to finding a way out.

* * *

Finally seeing the end of the train, Cobb tore around it, zoomed down the street until they reached the ambush site; hitting the gas, he yanked the car to the side so that the rear bumper collided with the nearest SUV, and it in turn, collided with the man standing next to it, sending him flying to the ground.

Taking advantage of this, Arthur reversed the taxi so that it collided and pinned the remaining attacker into the front of the second SUV as he continued driving, giving Eames enough time to fire his gun through the broken window, killing the attacker instantly; once this was done, Arthur tore out of the intersection as fast as the damaged taxi could go with the red sedan leading the way.

"Everybody okay?" Arthur asked, breathing hard.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I'm okay," Eames announced, shaken by the ambush and patted Robert on the back, who was still hunched over, his hands over his head, which was still covered by the sack. "Fischer's okay, unless he gets carsick."

Arthur was relieved and then glanced at Saito. "Saito?" and his heart sank when he saw that Saito was slumped in his seat, clutching at his chest, which was bleeding badly.

The Japanese businessman had been hit!

* * *

After driving through several different streets, in order to put distance between them and any other attackers, the taxi and the sedan reached a warehouse; Eames jumped out of the taxi, ran through the rain to the side entrance, and pushed the door open. Once both cars were inside, he shoved the door shut and locked it.

* * *

Cobb jumped out of the sedan and ran toward the back of the taxi followed by Yusuf. "Get Fischer into the back room now!" he ordered, yanking the door open, and he pulled Robert out, shoving him into Yusuf's arms; he then hurried around the taxi to where Arthur and Emma were now pulling Saito out while Eames helped get Robert secured. "Arthur! Arthur what the-" he began and then paled when he saw that Saito was bleeding badly. "Oh, Christ. Is he dying?"

"I don't know," Arthur admitted while Emma began applying pressure to the wound, using a white cloth from her pocket. "What happened back there?" he demanded. "Where were you?"

"We were blocked by a freight train," Cobb answered, running a hand through his hair, spooked by the train's arrival.

"A train?" Arthur repeated and looked at Ariadne, who was standing nearby. "Why would you put a train crossing in a downtown intersection?"

"I didn't," Ariadne responded, but she did have a suspicion of where it _could've_ come from.

Arthur glanced at Emma, who just shrugged. "You got me," she admitted, "it just came out of no where."

"Why were we all ambushed, Arthur?!" Cobb snapped, changing the subject. "Those weren't regular projections they'd been _trained_!"

"How could they be trained?" Ariadne asked, confused.

Arthur sighed, realizing what his friend meant, and even Emma was grim-faced since this was going to make their job five times harder. "Fischer's had an extractor teach his mind to defend itself," he explained. "His subconscious is militarized. It should've shown on the research-"

"So why the hell didn't _it_?!" Cobb yelled, his temper flaring.

Arthur frowned at him. "Calm down."

"_Don't_ tell me to calm down!" Cobb snapped as Arthur stood up, and he jabbed a finger into his friend's chest. "You were meant to check Fischer's background _thoroughly_! You can't make this kind of mistake – we're not prepared for _this_ kind of violence!"

Arthur pushed him away, scowling. "Cobb, we've dealt with sub-security before," he snapped. "We just have to be more-"

"This _wasn't_ part of the plan, Arthur!" Cobb shot back, pointing at Saito's bleeding form as Eames and Yusuf joined them. "He's dying!"

Pulling out his gun, Eames stopped next to the taxi and aimed it at the businessman, prompting Emma to scurry out of the way. "So we put him out of his misery."

"No, don't do that! Don't do that!" Cobb yelped, getting in the way and pinned the British man against the taxi, surprising the team.

"Cobb, calm down," Eames said, frowning as the younger man backed up a step. "He's in agony. Let's wake him up-"

"No!" Cobb repeated, scared. "It won't wake him up."

Now Eames was confused. "What do you mean, it won't wake him?" he asked. "When you die in a dream you wake up."

"Not from this," said Yusuf, worried. "We're too heavily sedated to wake up that way."

Confused looks were exchanged among Eames, Arthur, Emma, and Ariadne, all of them wondering what that meant should an accident occur, or one of the projections got the drop on them again, and what it also meant for Saito.

"Right, so what happens if one of us dies?" Eames asked, looking between Yusuf and Cobb.

Cobb sighed, dreading how his friends would react when he told them. "That person doesn't wake up," he explained. "Their mind drops into Limbo."

"Are you _serious_?" Arthur demanded angrily while Emma's face went pale with fright, and Eames was horrified.

"Limbo?" Ariadne echoed, scared and confused.

"Un-constructed dream space," Emma answered, terrified at the thought.

"What's down there?" Ariadne asked.

"Raw, _infinite_ subconscious," Arthur explained angrily, glaring at Cobb, who was looking guilty. "Nothing there but what was left behind by anyone on the team who's been trapped there before. On this team…just Cobb."

"We are _so_ screwed," Emma moaned, breathing hard, and Arthur turned to her, trying to get her to calm down, which wasn't easy since he was feeling the same way.

Ariadne didn't know what to think and looked at them all, confused and scared. "How long would we be stuck there?"

"You couldn't even think about trying to escape until the sedation eases-" Yusuf began.

"How _long_?" Eames demanded.

"Decades," Yusuf admitted, "it could be infinite – I don't know! Ask him – he's the one who's been there before!"

Furious with Cobb, Arthur turned to Yusuf. "Let's get him upstairs," he snapped, bending down to get Saito up; after a few seconds, they got the groaning Japanese businessman onto his feet, and they headed for the stairs, followed by Emma.

Pissed, Eames faced Cobb. "Great," he snapped. "So now we're stuck in Fischer's mind battling it out with his private army, and if we get hit we're stuck in Limbo 'til our brains dissolve into scrambled egg? Hmm?"

Cobb stared at the ground for several seconds, unable to look at them, and then left to check on Saito; Ariadne watched him go, and her face was pale with fear.

Eames went over to her and gently touched her shoulder, fully understanding her emotional state. "I know it doesn't look good," he admitted, "but we'll do everything that we can to make sure that we don't end up in limbo." _'I hope,'_ he thought as they both headed for the stairs.

* * *

A/N: Talk about starting out a new story with an explosive and wild start. R&R everyone!


	2. Chapter 2: INTERROGATION

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I'm back with the next chapter and thank you to princesslolitatheorca654 for your review. ;)

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_ I only own the character that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO: INTERROGATION**

Upstairs, Yusuf and Arthur carefully and, somewhat, gently laid Saito out on top of a long, wooden worktable near one of the large dirty windows.

"Someone got first-aid?" Arthur asked, moving aside as Emma and Ariadne, who'd grabbed a first-aid kit from the sedan, went to work on their injured teammate with help from Yusuf and Eames; while this happened, he confronted Cobb. "You knew about these risks and you didn't tell us?"

"There wasn't meant to be any risks," Cobb countered. "We weren't supposed to be dealing with a load of gunfire."

Arthur didn't believe him for a second. "You had _no_ right," he growled. "Especially to both Emma and myself. You _lied_ to us."

Cobb fixed him with a hard stare. "It's the only way you can go three layers deep, Arthur."

"Like _hell_ it is!" Emma snapped, turning to face him, leaving Ariadne to finish bandaging up Saito's wound. "You're so _thick-headed_ that you're risking us all just to do something impossible like inception!"

"Inception _isn't_ impossible, and you know it," Cobb countered, mildly surprised since Emma tended to be the level headed one most of the time.

Arthur was too angry to believe that, and he faced Yusuf. "And you. You went along with this?"

"I _trusted_ him," said Yusuf, pointing at Cobb.

"You _trusted_ him?" Arthur echoed, looking between the two men. "When? When he promised you half his share?"

Yusuf shook his head, clearly offended. "No! His _whole_ share," he countered. "Plus, he told me he'd done it before."

"Oh, yeah?" Arthur growled, facing Cobb. "With Mal? That worked out _great_, didn't it, Cobb?"

"You both went _too deep_ that time, Cobb," Emma reminded him, "and look at what it _cost_ you."

Scowling, Cobb grabbed the arms of the couple, and for a moment it looked like they were going to end up fighting. "You don't know _anything_ about that," he hissed and then took a step back, releasing their arms. "This was the only way to do this job, Arthur, Emma. I _did_ what I had to do to get back to my children."

"So you led us into a war zone with no way out," Eames said scathingly.

"We _have_ a way out," Cobb countered. "The kick. We just have to push on, do the job as _fast_ as possible and get out using the kick."

"Forget it," Eames protested, sitting down in a chair. "We go any deeper, we just raise the stakes. I'm _sitting_ it out on this level."

Cobb shook his head. "You'll never make it, Eames," he pointed out. "Fischer's security is surrounding this place as we speak. The ten hours of the flight is a _week_ at this level – you'll never make it without getting killed, and Emma can't carry the third dream on her own without it collapsing, even with the sedative. Downwards is the only way forwards. We _have_ to carry on." He then winced when Saito groaned, still in pain despite all of the painkillers that Emma had given him. "And we _have_ to do it fast," he added.

Arthur, Emma, and Eames shared uneasy looks, weighing their options; the risks with the sub security _were_ going to get higher when they eventually went down to the other levels, which also increased their odds of being killed and ending up in limbo, and yet, Cobb was also right, the sooner that they got the job done, the sooner they could get out of there, and they just had to hope that Saito would be able to stay alive long enough for that to happen.

Seeing that he'd gotten through to them, Cobb picked up three cloth masks and zipped up the front of his jacket. "Eames, go get ready," he ordered, tossing two of the masks to the couple, and they weren't looking thrilled. "Arthur, Emma, let's get in there and soften him up." And he headed back downstairs.

"This is still a bad idea," Eames told them seriously. "Cobb might be right, but we all could still end up in limbo."

"We know," Arthur agreed, zipping up his own jacket and Emma did the same, "but we've got a job to do, and we might as well finish it."

Eames sighed. "I know," he grumbled, watching as the couple also headed back downstairs, "I know."_ 'If we end up in limbo, I am _so_ going to kill Cobb.'_

* * *

Robert was handcuffed to a radiator in a bathroom and his head was still covered by the sack; he figured it was a bathroom based on the cold concrete he was sitting on and the smell, and he also figured that this was a kidnapping based on what'd happen earlier in the cab.

'_If I _ever_ get out of here alive, I'm taking the limo for now on,'_ he decided, wondering what the shouting he heard earlier was all about; he suspected that the people who had fired at the cab had either been a rival group of kidnappers, _or_ a hit squad sent by one of his late father's rivals that wanted to take the family business down.

Robert was considering removing the sack himself when he heard footsteps and the door to the room open; he blinked several times when the sack was removed, and when his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he found himself staring up at three figures wearing red jackets and guessed that one of them was the cab driver from earlier, and he noted that one of the kidnappers was a female.

"I'm insured against kidnapping up to ten million," he told them, assuming that this was about money. "So this'll be simple-"

_`"__No, it won't__,"`_ said one of the kidnappers, his voice muffed by the mask, through which only his eyes were peering out, and the young man looked at him uneasily.

_`"__In your father's office, below the bookshelves, is his personal safe__,"`_ said the second kidnapper.

_`"__We need the combination__,"`_ said the female kidnapper._ `"Tell us what it is."`_

Robert looked up at them, confused; he'd practically grown up in his father's home office, and he had no memory of ever seeing a safe in there, not even a sign of a hidden one. "I never noticed a safe," he admitted.

The first kidnapper crouched down, his eyes cold. _`"__Doesn't mean you don't know the combination__."`_

Robert scoffed. "Well, I _don't_."

Clearly the kidnappers didn't believe him since the one in front of him, straightened up and then left the room.

_`"__We have it on good authority that you do__,"`_ said the second kidnapper.

"Whose?" Robert asked.

_`"Someone who knows you _quite_ well,"`_ said the female kidnapper slyly.

Robert frowned, but said nothing; something about how they were talking meant that he probably _did_ know whom they were talking about, and he was hoping and praying that he was wrong.

* * *

Having left Ariadne to look after Saito, Yusuf was now looking through Robert's wallet, impressed by the smell of the leather, and Eames, now wearing a rumpled business suit that was identical to the one worn by Peter Browning, was opening a hinged, three-wing mirror.

"Five hundred dollars, this cost?" Yusuf asked, fingering the soft leather.

"What's inside?" Eames asked, now organizing things on the tabletop, which included a pair of Browning's glasses.

Yusuf looked through the contents. "Cash, cards, ID... and this-" he pulled out a small photo, and handed it to Eames, who looked it over and saw that it was a smaller version of the photo he'd seen in the makeshift hospital room, the one of young Robert and his father playing with a homemade pinwheel that had numbers on it.

Cobb joined them, having removed the mask, and Eames handed him the photo. "Useful?"

Cobb examined the photo while Eames seated himself in front of the mirrors, picking up the glasses as the myriad reflections of himself began transforming into that of a battered Peter Browning. "Maybe," he said thoughtfully, pocketing the photo for later. "You're on. You've got an hour."

Eames paused in his preparations and shot the younger man a scandalized look. "An _hour_?" he repeated. "I was supposed to have _all night_ to crack him."

"And Saito wasn't supposed to be shot in the chest," Cobb countered. "You've got an hour," he repeated, "get something we can use."

Eames sighed, pocketing the glasses the way he'd seen Browning do it, turned away from the mirrors, now Browning with a _very_ beaten face, and began screaming loudly for mercy, making both Cobb and Yusuf wince.

* * *

In the bathroom, Robert could hear 'Browning's' cries of pain, and he looked in the direction of the door, concerned. "What's that?" he asked, fearing the answer.

_`"__Good authority__,"`_ said the second kidnapper, watching him closely.

Robert winced as another cry of pain rang out, and he knew that it was Browning. "Uncle Peter," he whispered, rubbing his free hand over his face. "Make them stop."

_`"__The combination__,"`_ the female kidnapper requested.

"I don't know it," Robert repeated, wincing as another cry of pain rang out.

_`"__Why would Browning tell us you did__?"`_ the second kidnapper asked.

"I don't know," Robert admitted. "Please, let me talk to him," he requested as his godfather continued crying out in pain. "I'll find out."

Nodding, the female kidnapper walked to the door and called through it._ `"Bring him in."`_ And she stepped aside as the first kidnapper kicked the door in, shoving 'Browning', bloody and bruised, into the room and forced him down next to Robert; he then handcuffed 'Browning's' wrist to a metal bracket on the side of the sink.

_`"__You've got _one_ hour,"`_ he told them._ `"Get talking__."`_ and all three kidnappers left the room.

Robert looked at his godfather concerned and shocked at his current condition; the last time he'd seen Browning had been at the home office before he'd left for a business meeting in America two weeks before his father's death. "Uncle Peter, are you all right?" he asked, gently touching the older man's shoulder.

'Browning' groaned again before answering. "They've been at me for two days," he complained. "They've got someone with access to your father's office and they're trying to open his safe – they thought I'd know the combination, but I don't."

Robert sighed. "Neither do I, Uncle Peter," he admitted.

'Browning' stared at him, confused. "Maurice told me that after he passed only you would be able to open it."

Robert shook his head. "He never gave me the combination."

'Browning' frowned and thought for a moment._ 'That pinwheel in that photo has numbers on it, maybe…'_ "He did," he insisted, "he just didn't tell you that it was a combination."

Robert frowned, wondering how that could be possible. "What then?"

"Something only you would know," 'Browning' suggested. "Some meaningful combination of numbers from your experiences with Maurice-"

"We didn't _have_ a lot of meaningful experiences together," Robert countered as his thoughts indirectly wandered to the memory of him as a boy playing with the homemade pinwheel with his father.

'Browning' shrugged, wincing at the pain. "Perhaps after your mother died…"

Robert shook his head, thinking of the day his mom passed away. "After my mother died, I went to him in my grief," he recalled. "You know what he told me? "There's really nothing to be said, Robert"."

"He always had a hard time with emotional-" 'Browning' began helpfully.

"I was _eleven_, Uncle Peter!" Robert snapped, his emotions starting to get the better of him.

'_Good God, _what_ did his father do to him?'_ 'Browning' wondered while nodding in a caring manner.

* * *

Upstairs, Cobb joined Ariadne, who was watching over Saito, and checked on the Japanese businessman, who was wheezing against the pain.

"How's he doing?" Cobb asked, having left his mask with Arthur and Emma downstairs.

"He's in a lot of pain," Ariadne answered, "even with the bullet out and all the painkillers that Emma gave him earlier."

Cobb nodded, silently glad that his friend kept her first-aid certification updated, and it also helped that her parents had raised her to take care of farm animals, too; he took Saito's hand and looked the businessman in the eye. "When we get you down to the next level, the pain will be less intense," he promised and Saito nodded, breathing hard.

"And if he dies?" Ariadne asked, worried.

Cobb shrugged. "His conscious mind will drop out of the dream," he answered reluctantly. "He'll be trapped in Limbo for a _lifetime_…"

"What will that do to him?" Ariadne inquired.

Cobb looked at her gravely. "When he wakes," he explained, "his mind could be completely gone."

Just then, Saito spoke up, gasping. "When…when we wake I will still honor our arrangement," he vowed, fighting against the pain.

Cobb smiled sadly. "Saito-san, when you wake you might not even _remember_ that we had an arrangement," he informed him. "You'll have forgotten this world. Limbo will _be_ your reality. Lost there so long, you'll have become an old man-"

"Filled with regret?" Saito suggested, remembering when he first offered the job to him.

"Waiting to die alone," Cobb concluded. "Yes."

"Then I'll take the chance and come back," Saito stated, breathing hard. "And we'll be young men together again." He weakly smiled and then began coughing again.

"Breath," Cobb instructed. "Breath."

* * *

Back downstairs, Arthur and Emma were waiting with the cars and a long white van, hoping that Eames would be successful while wondering just how much time they would have before the projections managed to track them down.

"You know, if we _do_ end up in limbo," said Emma sourly, "I'm _so_ gonna kill Cobb."

"Eames might beat you to it," Arthur pointed out and his wife grimly smiled at the thought of her ex-boyfriend straggling their friend with his bare hands. "Why did Cobb lie to us? You and me – _why_?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know, but when that freight train came out of nowhere, Cobb was staring at it like he'd seen it before."

Arthur frowned. "You sure?" and sighed when she nodded. "God, it must be something that happen when he and Mal were in limbo."

"Maybe," Emma agreed. "I mean, we don't really know what happen down there with them, or even how _long_ they were down there in dream time."

"I know," Arthur agreed, sitting down next to his wife on the hood of the taxi; they had been friends with Cobb and Mal for years, and when their friends suddenly broke off contact for several weeks, they had headed over to the house; what they found had spooked them, both Cobb and Mal were lying on the floor, holding hands, and they were deeply asleep with the machine between them.

Arthur had been alarmed when he saw that the timers on the machine had been set for a whole _month_, and there was nothing that they could do about it, except wait; when their friends _finally_ woke up, Cobb had been surprised, but glad, to see them, and Mal was distant, and they had assumed it had to do with the dream they had been in. But that guess had gone out the window when Mal became more withdrawn and cold, acting like they weren't real, and when they had asked Cobb what had happen down there, he'd said that nothing bad had happen while they had been in limbo, and that he didn't really know what was wrong with his wife.

After Mal died and Cobb was blamed for her death, being force to go on the run, the couple had decided to help however they could, going on jobs in different countries for big companies wanting to steal from each other, and this had gone on for five years; it was only in the last year that Mal started showing up more and more, and now they were starting to think that Cobb might've done something to Mal that involved with inception.

"Arthur," said Emma, making a decision. "When we're done with this job, and Cobb is finally able to go home without being arrested, I don't want to do this anymore."

"Do what exactly?" Arthur asked, surprised.

"This whole business of breaking into other people's minds and stealing from them," Emma responded. "I _don't_ want to do it anymore. Honey, when I was in college, it was to be an interior designer, not this, and I miss being able to use my talents in _real_ buildings."

Arthur smiled sadly, understanding what she was talking about; when he had been in college, it had been to get a degree in psychology, and it was because of his friendship with Cobb and Mal that he ended up in the program. "Yeah, you're right, sweetie," he agreed. "This _will_ be our last job."

* * *

Meanwhile in the bathroom, 'Browning' was still trying to convince Robert of how much trouble they were in.

"These people are going to kill us if we don't give them the combination," he stated.

Robert shook his head. "They won't, they'll try to ransom us-"

"I _heard_ them," 'Browning' snapped. "They're going to _lock_ us in that van and _drive_ it into the river."

Robert decided to take that possible threat seriously. "What's in the safe?" he asked.

"Something for you," 'Browning' answered. "Maurice always said it was his most precious gift…a _will_."

"Maurice's will is with Port and Dunn," Robert reminded him._ 'Why would my father have a second will?'_

"It's an alternate," 'Browning' explained. "It supersedes the other only if you want it to."

Robert frowned. "What does it say?"

'Browning' sighed. "It splits all the component businesses of Fischer Morrow into individual companies, transferring ownership to the boards of those companies…"

This alarmed Robert. "Leaving me nothing?" he asked.

"A basic living," 'Browning' confirmed. "Nothing more. The entire empire would cease to exist."

"Destroy my own inheritance?" Robert asked, shocked. "Why would he suggest such a thing?"

'Browning' shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "He loved you, Robert. In his own way."

"In his own way"," Robert repeated and sighed. "At the end he called me to his deathbed," he explained. "He could barely speak, but he took the trouble to say _one last thing_ to me. He pulled me close…I could make out only _one_ word. "Disappointed"."

'Browning' stared, surprised and then looked away, sighing. _'Jesus, this is going to be tougher then I thought.'_

* * *

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. R&R everyone!


	3. Chapter 3: MR CHARLES

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I'm back with a new chapter, folks! And I hope you all are still enjoying my various stories. :)

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE: MR. CHARLES**

Back upstairs, Saito had fallen into an uneasy sleep, Cobb was staring out the window, keeping an eye out for the projections, and Ariadne saw this as a chance to find out more about him.

"When were you trapped in Limbo?" she asked, and when he didn't answer, she made him face her. "Cobb, you might have convinced the rest of this team to carry on with the job," she added seriously. "But they don't know the truth."

"What truth?" Cobb asked, avoiding her question.

Ariadne scowled. "The truth that at any minute you might bring a _freight train_ through the wall," she reminded him. "The truth that Mal is _bursting_ up through your subconscious. The truth that as we go deeper into Fischer, we're also going deeper into you – and I'm not sure we're going to like what we find there."

Cobb sighed and looked away, the guilt obvious on his face.

"This is not just about Fischer, it's about you," Ariadne pointed out. "Tell me what happened to you and Mal. Trapped in Limbo."

Cobb looked back at her, considering his options, and then he finally told her. "We were on a job," he explained, remembering. "Exploring dreams within dreams. But we didn't understand how your mind could turn hours into years. How you can get trapped. Trapped so _deep_ that when you wash up on the shore of your subconscious…"

_Mal lies on the sand, stares up at a blue sky in shock and confusion as the waves crashes over her; she sits up, and she looks around until she sees Cobb, who is looking as shell-shocked as she is._

"You can lose track of what's real," Cobb concluded as the memories faded.

"How long were you both stuck there?" Ariadne asked, her eyes wide.

Cobb hesitated for a moment before answering. "Fifty years."

Ariadne stared at him, stunned. "Jesus," she whispered. "How did you stand it?" she asked, and Cobb shrugged.

_`"__We built. We created a whole world for ourselves__…"`_

_Together on the beach, Cobb and Mal build dozens of sandcastles out of sand, and giant versions of said castles rises out of the ground behind them; soon they walk together through a deserted city, holding hands, and they were smiling and laughing._

"It's not so bad at first, being gods," Cobb admitted. "The problem is knowing that it's not real. It became impossible for me to live like that."

"But not for her?" Ariadne asked her forehead furrowed with concern.

"She accepted it," Cobb answered unhappily. "At some point…"

_Mal __opens a doll's house and inside is a safe; she opens it and it is empty, and she pulls out her top._

_`"…she'd decided to forget that our world wasn't real__."`_

_Mal places the top inside the safe, and she locks it away__…_

"And when you finally woke up?" Ariadne asked, noting that there were gaps in the story, but she wanted to hear what he wanted her to know.

Cobb grimly chuckled. "To wake from that. From decades lived. To be old souls thrown back into youth, and Arthur and Emma were there to greet us – actually they had been worried since they hadn't known we had been working a job for the program. Coming back to all of that, it was hard. At first Mal seemed okay. But I started to realize something was wrong, and even Emma and Arthur could see it, too. Finally she admitted it. This idea she was possessed by. This simple little idea that changed everything…"

"What was it?" Ariadne inquired.

"That our world was not real," Cobb answered, shaking his head. "No matter what I did, no matter _what_ I said, she was convinced that we were still in a dream. That everyone that we knew, including Arthur and Emma, were projections. That we needed to wake up again…"

_Cobb tries to calm down Mal, who is hysterical, and is shouting at him._

_`"__That to get home we'd have to kill ourselves__."`_

Ariadne stared at him, appalled. "What about your children?" she asked.

Cobb shook his head. "She…she believed they weren't real," he confessed. "That our real children were waiting. Somewhere above…"

* * *

_Mal shakes her head at Cobb as he ushers the children out of the room__._

_`"Calm down, Mal,"` Cobb pleads as their kids cry._

_`"__They're projections, Dom,"` Mal insists. `"_Your_ dreams. I'm their mother __– __don't you think I can tell the difference__?"`_

_Cobb closes the door and turns to her, eyes full of bitter tears__. `"__If it's my dream then why can't I control it?"` he asks__. `"__Why can't I stop this__?"`_

_`"__Because you don't know you're dreaming__,"` says Mal angrily._

_Cobb sighs. `"__You keep telling me I am__-"`_

_`"__And you don't believe me__!"` Mal shouts._

_`"__She was _certain_,"` said Cobb. `"But she loved me too much to go without me. So she made a plan__…"`_

* * *

_Cobb walks alone, checking door numbers against a key, and he holds a bunch of flowers__._

_`"__For our anniversary__…"`_

_Cobb enters the lavish suite and he notices the disheveled bedclothes; confusion on his face, he steps forward – CRACK! – He steps a champagne glass with his foot…dinner for two is spread across the floor. He looks at the debris confused and then sees next to the broken glass is a familiar top. He picks it up, studying it, thinking. He feels a draught, and looks to the window. The curtain billows and he sees a vague figure__._

_Putting down the flowers, Cobb moves toward the window and he sees Mal, who is sitting __on the ledge of the opposite window with her hair blowing across her face; her feet are dangling over the dizzyingly high atrium, and she smiles at him__._

_`"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"` Cobb asks and has a nasty idea of what she is planning to do._

_`"__Join me__,"` Mal requests._

_Cobb swallows. `"__Mal, come back inside__,"` he requests gently._

_Mal shakes her head. `"__No. I'm going to jump,"` she informs her husband. `"And you're coming with me__."`_

_`"__No, I'm not,"` Cobb refuses. `"This is _real_– __if you jump, you're not going to wake up, you're going to _die_. Let's go back inside and talk about this, please__."`_

_Mal shakes her head again. `"__We've talked enough__."` She kicks off her shoe and she watches it drop and Cobb's eyes are wide with fear. `"__Come out onto the ledge or I'll jump right now__."`  
_

_Realizing that his wife means it, Cobb grabs the window frame and __swings his legs out, sitting on the ledge opposite his wife, and he looks down at the drop, his stomach twists with fear__._

_`"__I'm asking you to take a leap of faith__,"` Mal requests._

_`"__I can't do that, Mal,"` Cobb tells her. `"I can't leave our children__."`_

_Mal smiles again, almost as if she knows something that he doesn't. `"__If I go without you, they'll take them away, anyway__."`_

_`"__What do you mean__?"` Cobb asks._

_`"__I filed a letter with our attorney,"` Mal explains. `"Explaining how I'm fearful for my safety, how you've threatened to kill me__…"` and Cobb looks back at the wrecked hotel suite and he starts to panic as he realizes just how far his wife is willing to go. `"__I love you, Dom,"` she adds and he looks back at her. `"I've freed you from the guilt of choosing to leave them. We're going home to our _real_ children__."`_

_Cobb's panic grows. `"__Our children are _here_, Mal__,"` he reminds her._

_Mal is past reasoning and she closes her eyes and ignores her husband's words as she begins to speak. `"__You're waiting for a train__…"`_

_Cobb recognizes the riddle and he starts to cry. `"__No! Mal, no, I can't__!"`_

_`"__A train that will take you far away__…"` Mal continues with a dreamy expression._

_`"__Don't do this__!"` Cobb pleads._

_`"__You know where you hope this train will take you, you can't know for sure__…"` says Mal._

_`"Don't!"` Cobb screams._

_`"__But it doesn't matter__…"` Mal whispers to the wind._

"_No!"` Cobb yells._

_`"__Because you'll be together__,"` Mal says and, with her eyes still closed, she slips off the window and into space; Cobb screams as she drops toward the ground and then tries to bury his face in the nearby stone wall, his heart breaking a the same time._

_Mal was gone._

* * *

Cobb swallowed back his tears, staring out the window now while Ariadne was shocked. "Her letter to the authorities refuted all the claims about her sanity that she knew I'd make…"

* * *

_Cobb stands with the thin man, who has__ an envelope in his hand, and they are talking._

_`"__She'd had herself declared sane by _three_ different psychiatrists__."`_

_Cobb hears a shout and he turns to the garden. James is crouching on the ground, digging, and Philippa joins him, examining the ground, too__._

_`"__It was _impossible_ for me to explain the nature of her madness__…."`_

_Cobb is about to call out to his children when the thin man thrusts the envelope towards him. `"__Right now,"` he says seriously. `"Or _never_, Cobb__."` He takes the envelope, opens it to reveal an airline ticket, and he looks back at the window to call to his children, but their grandmother calls to them, and they run away._

_`"Okay, let's go,"` Cobb says, he grabs his jacket and bag, and they both go._

* * *

"So I ran," said Cobb sadly. "And I've been running ever since, trying to buy my way back to my family…"

"Psychiatrists judged her sane?" Ariadne asked stunned by all that Cobb had revealed.

"She _was_ sane," Cobb corrected. "She was just lost in the labyrinth."

"Then why should you blame yourself?" Ariadne inquired, wondering why he was feeling guilty for something that he hadn't done.

Cobb hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell her or not. "Because we were a _family_," he admitted. "And we had a life I would do _anything_ to get back to now. But that reality wasn't enough for me then."

"It might have been your idea to push the limits, Cobb," Ariadne conceded. "But you're _not_ responsible for the idea that destroyed her. The idea that her world wasn't real…that was her _own_ idea from her _own_ mind." And for a moment, she thought she saw something flash across Cobb's face, but she ignored it for now. "Your guilt _defines_ her," she pointed out. "Powers her. If we're going to succeed in this…you're going to have to _forgive_ yourself, and you're going to have to _confront_ her. But you don't have to do it alone."

"You don't have to do this for me-" Cobb began.

"I'm _doing_ it for the others," Ariadne interrupted. "They don't know the _risk_ they've taken coming in here with you."

Cobb stared at her, dumbfounded and then he noticed movement on the roof of the building opposite them; peering through the rain-soaked window, he saw a sniper moving into position.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "We can't stay here. Arthur?! Emma?!" and he ran for the stairs.

* * *

Cobb dashed into the main area, surprising the couple when he snatched up his mask. "Fischer's security is starting to converge outside," he informed them. "We've got to move._ Now_."

Nodding, Arthur and Emma pulled their masks back on, and they headed for the bathroom; Cobb kicked the door open, barging into the bathroom, startling the two men as Arthur and Emma entered next.

_`"__Come to your senses__?"`_ he asked.

"Let us go," Robert requested. "I don't know the combination," he added. "N-not _consciously_."

Cobb considered this, pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number as he also pulled out his gun. _`"__Let's try instinctively,"`_ he suggested_. `"I have someone standing in your father's office ready to tap in a combination__."`_ He then held the phone to Robert's face and he aimed the gun at his head. _`"__First six numbers that come into your head,"`_ he ordered_. `"Right now__."`_

"I have no idea-" Robert began.

_`"Right now!"`_ Cobb ordered, swinging the gun at 'Browning's' head, making the older man wince._ `"Right now!"`_

"Five, two, eight…four, nine, one," Robert said quickly, briefly thinking of his homemade pinwheel.

Cobb straightened up; he listened to the person he'd called for a moment, and then shook his head, putting both items away._ `"__You'll have to do better then that,"`_ he snapped and proceeded to remove the handcuff from Robert's wrist._ `"Bag 'em__."`_ And so Arthur and Emma produced a pair of sacks and shoved them over the men's heads.

* * *

Five minutes later, Arthur, Emma, and Cobb dragged Robert and 'Browning' toward the van; Cobb removed his mask while shoving 'Browning' in after the couple and Robert, who was trying to convince them not to kill them.

_`"__We're worth much more to you alive__,"`_ Robert insisted, his voice muffled by the sack._ `"You hear me?"`_ he pleaded as Arthur shoved him into one of the backseats, pulled out a small bottle, and used dropper to drip several drops of a yellowish liquid onto the sack; seconds later, Robert slumped in the seat…unconscious once again.

He and Emma, having removed their masks, climbed back out of the van with Eames, who pulled the sack off, no longer pretending to be Browning.

"What'd you get?" Cobb asked.

"His relationship with his father's much worse then we imagined," Eames reported, slightly frustrated. "I've heard of children being emotionally and mentally abused like that, but this is bad."

"That helps us _how_?" Arthur asked, heading to the back of the van with his wife, and they pulled out two sniper rifles.

"The stronger the issues, the more powerful the catharsis," Cobb declared and Eames nodded; he then went to Yusuf, who was supporting Saito, and went to help while Ariadne climbed into the van to buckle Robert in.

"But how do you reconcile them if they're that estranged?" Emma asked as she and Arthur headed for the doors.

Eames shrugged. "I'm working on that."

"Well, work faster," Arthur snapped. "Fischer's projections are closing in quick, we need to break out of here before we're totally boxed in." Pulling a chain, he opened one of the windows enough so that they could shoot at the snipers. Cobb and Yusuf carefully and gently got a groaning Saito into the van, where Ariadne double-checked the bandages as she buckled him in.

The couple ducked as the snipers fired back, destroying the window; exchanging dark looks, they risked opening the door, and opened fire, killing two of the snipers. Unfortunately, the third sniper was hiding behind a large power transformer, making it nearly impossible to hit him, and they were forced to duck behind the door, cursing.

"Damn it."

Just then, Eames walked up. "Shouldn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling," he advised, lifted up a grenade launcher, lined up the shot, and he fired it; seconds later, the area that the sniper was hiding in was blown up, taking out all three transformers, and he smiled at their startled expressions. "Shall we?" he asked cheerfully, heading back to the van.

Arthur and Emma exchanged bemused looks, shrugged, and then pulled the door open completely.

* * *

Yusuf drove the van out of the warehouse and onto the rain-drenched streets; inside the van, Arthur and Emma were passing around the tubing while wondering how they were going to implant the idea in Robert's subconscious while dealing with his anger toward his late father.

"Shifting Fischer's antipathy from his father onto Browning should work," Cobb suggested.

Eames nodded while strapping tubes onto Saito's wrist since the businessman was too weak from the pain to do it himself. "We need the imagery, the words…"

"So you destroy his _one_ positive relationship?" Ariadne asked, alarmed.

"No," Cobb corrected her. "We repair his relationship with his father and expose his godfather's true nature."

Eames grinned, taping tubs onto Robert's wrist. "Hell, we should be charging Fischer as much as Saito," he joked.

"What about his security?" Arthur asked. "It's going to get worse as we go deeper."

Cobb nodded, knowing it to be true, and got an idea. "We bring in Mr. Charles," he suggested and both Arthur and Emma protested, alarmed expressions on their faces.

"No."

"Forget it, Cobb!"

"Who's Mr. Charles?" Eames asked, curiously.

"A _bad_ idea," Arthur answered grimly, and Emma nodded.

"Arthur, Emma, the _second_ we approach Fischer in that hotel, they're gonna mow us down," Cobb pointed out, "we run with Mr. Charles like on the Stein job."

Eames was interested now. "So you've done it before?"

"Sure," Arthur confirmed. "But it _didn't_ work. The subject _realized_ he was dreaming and his subconscious _tore_ us to pieces." And Emma grimaced at the memory.

"You learned a lot, though. Right?" Eames asked, grinning as he strapped the tubes onto his own wrist now.

Emma rolled her eyes as she got herself ready. "Yeah, like how _painful_ it can be to have your head ripped off your own shoulders."_ 'And it didn't help that the League of Shadows kidnapped us a short while later.'_

"I'll need a decoy," Cobb requested, nodding to Eames while ignoring the couples' continued protests.

Eames chuckled. "No problem. How about a pretty young lady I've used before?" he suggested.

"Fine," said Cobb, noticing that they were being chased by a black SUV and then turned to Yusuf once he had the tubes taped on. "I know you've got to stay ahead of them, but drive with kid gloves, okay?" he requested. "The world down there is going to be _very_ unstable." And Yusuf promised.

"And don't make the jump too soon," Arthur advised, putting the case on the seat next to Yusuf while adjusting his seat so that it was tilted to a comfortable position, and then buckled himself in. "That kick is our only way back, we _have_ to be ready to catch it."

"I'll use the music to let you know when it's coming," Yusuf promised, "but the rest is up to you." He then glanced at the others, who were all hooked up. "Everyone ready?" he asked, and got confirming nods. "Sweet dreams." And he hit the button.

* * *

Seated at a bar, which was inside a fancy hotel, Robert was nursing a glass of champagne, staring moodily at the slowly melting and cracking ice when someone spoke to him.

"Am I boring you?" asked a soft female voice.

Blinking, Robert looked around and saw that a _beautiful_ blonde-haired woman with dark eyes and was wearing an unusual, but revealing black dress and black high-heeled sandals._ 'Where did _she_ come from?'_ "Excuse me?"

"I was telling you my story," the blonde reminded him. "I guess it wasn't to your liking," she added, disappointed.

"Sorry," Robert apologized, clearing his throat. "I have a lot on my mind." And he noted that there was a stern-looking man seated at the bar behind the blonde woman, and was watching her closely._ 'Okay, this is starting to get weirder and _weirder_.'_

* * *

In the lobby of the hotel, Arthur, who was wearing a black business suit, and Ariadne, now wearing a gray business suit, skirt, and black heels with her hair done up in a tight neat bun, were seated on a couch together, which gave them a good view of the area.

"And there goes Mr. Charles," said Arthur, nodding to Cobb, now dressed in a gray business suit, who was walking across the lobby to the bar to find Robert before the security projections caught on.

* * *

Several floors up, Emma, now wearing a light brown business suit, skirt, and dark heels with her hair up in a bun, calmly walked through the hallway, keenly aware that she was being followed by a man in a light-colored suit; this was the second one to follow her in the last ten minutes, and she barely got rid of the last one by stumbling across one of her husband's penrose steps, having almost fallen off the edge herself.

Now she was heading to the elevator that'd just barely arrived, and managed to get inside, finding Saito in his usual business suit, and got the door shut before the guard could enter. "Saito, doing better?"

Saito nodded, his chest no longer hurting. "Quite so, Ms. Emma. Where are the others?"

"Scattered about," Emma answered. "Trying to distract Fischer's security as long as we can so that Cobb can pull his gambit."

"And what gambit is that?" Saito asked, barely recalling what had been discussed inside the van before entering the second dream level.

Emma sighed. "It's complicated and dangerous…" and she proceeded to tell him about 'Mr. Charles'.

* * *

Entering the bar and collecting a drink from a table, Cobb approached Robert, stopping next to the blonde. "Mr. Fischer!" he said cheerfully, getting the younger man's attention. "Good to see you again. Rod Green, Marketing," he added, offering his hand, but Robert only gave him a cold look before looking away; having expected that, he turned his attention to the blonde, hoping that it was Eames in disguise and not a projection. "And you must be…"

"Leaving," the blonde answered and Cobb stepped aside, nodding and sipping his drink as he moved to the other side of Robert, noting that there was a second security person, who was also watching the blonde…for now; standing, she brushed against the young man, dropping her cocktail napkin in his lap. "In case you get bored," she whispered into his ear before collecting her purse and drink, and walked away.

The two security men stood and followed her out of the bar, and Cobb was relieved, but didn't show it. "I think you just got blown off," he remarked, nodding to the napkin, "unless her phone number really _does_ have only six digits."

Blinking, Robert picked up the napkin and smoothed it out on the counter, revealing the numbers "528-491."_ 'Why do those look familiar?'_

"Strange way to make friends," Cobb added, and Robert glanced at him. "Lifting your wallet, I mean."

Frowning, Robert checked the pockets of his suit and realized that his wallet _was_ missing, and he glanced in the direction that the blonde had gone. "Goddamn it," he cursed. "The wallet alone worth-"

"Five hundred bucks," Cobb cut in. "I know. Don't worry, my people are on it."

* * *

"Who or _what_, exactly, is Mr. Charles?" Ariadne asked as the blonde crossed the lobby, being followed by the two security men.

"It's a gambit designed to turn Fischer against his own subconscious," Arthur answered, also noting the blonde and guessed that it was Eames in one of his disguises, trying to buy them more time by distracting the projections.

"And why don't you and Emma approve?" Ariadne asked.

Arthur sighed, hoping that it wouldn't blow up in their faces again. "Because it involves telling the mark that he's dreaming," he explained, as there was a faint rumbling in the distance. "Which involves attracting _a lot_ of attention to us."

This surprised Ariadne, recalling what Cobb had told her during her first time in the dream world. "Didn't Cobb say never to do that?"

Arthur smiled slightly. "You must've noticed by now how much time Cobb spends doing things he says never to do." And Ariadne agreed.

* * *

The elevator arrived on the main floor of the hotel, and Saito and Emma were about to step out when the doors opened, only to be pushed back inside by the blonde, still being followed by security.

"Mr. Saito, Ms. Emma, can I have a minute?" she requested, pushing a button, and the doors shut before the security men could get inside, and she placed a hand on the Japanese man's face.

Saito flushed and Emma was startled. "I'm sorry, but-" he began, and then they both happen to look at their reflections in the glass wall, and saw that they were talking to Eames and not a projection like they'd feared.

"You look a bit perkier," Eames teased, grinning. "Care for a kiss sweetie?" he added to Emma.

"_Very_ amusing, Mr. Eames," Saito growled, scowling as he and Emma pushed him away.

"Grow up, Eames," Emma scolded, and winced when a shudder rippled through the elevator. "Uh oh."

Saito glanced up toward the ceiling, also concerned. "Turbulence on the plane?" he asked.

Eames shook his head, pulling out Robert's wallet and pulled out the photo again, positive that it could be useful. "Feels closer," he said, also glancing upward. "That's Yusuf's driving."

"Sounds like he's still being chased by the projections," Emma remarked and glanced at the photo. "What's that?"

"It's a photo of Fischer and his father when he was a kid," Eames answered, noting that the numbers on the pinwheel were the same as ones Robert had told them earlier. "And I'm guessing that it's the only happy moment in their lives," he added.

Emma shrugged. "It's possible."

* * *

Back on the first dream level, Yusuf was fighting the wheel as he drove the van down an alley, bumping over potholes and smashing trashcans aside with three SUVs in furious pursuit. Yusuf ducked as the attackers fired at the van, shattering most of the windows, and then he looked in the rear view mirror, frustrated.

'This_ is why I don't like going into the field,_' he thought, checking his watch, and then checked the sleepers, who were shaking with the impact as he ended up hydroplaning onto a new street, rainwater hitting their faces through the broken windows._ I hope you guys are making progress down there.'_

* * *

On the second level, Robert stared at his glass, perplexed to see that the liquid inside it was trembling, and he glanced at Cobb. "Um, I'm sorry, who did you say you were?" he asked.

"I _said_ I was Rod Green from Marketing – but I'm not," said Cobb, sitting down near Robert. "My name is Mr. Charles," he added, introducing himself and he had the young man's full attention. "I might seem familiar to you. I'm in charge of your security here."

* * *

A/N: And that's all for today, folks! See you next week! R&R everyone!


	4. Chapter 4: YOU'RE IN A DREAM

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I return with another chapter and I hope that you all will have a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR: "YOU'RE IN A DREAM"**

In the elevator, Eames put the photo back and handed the wallet to Saito. "Get off at different floors and keep moving," Eames advised. "You go meet up with your hubby and Ariadne, Emma. Saito, dump the wallet, and then meet me in the lobby. The security will try to track it down." The elevator stopped and he stepped out into the hallway. "We need to buy Cobb a little more time." And he left while the doors closed behind him.

Emma pushed two of the buttons so that they could get off on different floors, and Saito pocketed the wallet; suddenly he let out a deep, _nasty_, cough, surprising them both. "You okay, Saito?" she asked, concerned, and Saito nodded.

"I'm fine."

* * *

Down in the bar, everything trembled again while Robert was questioning Cobb, who he was _almost_ certain that he'd seen him before. "Security? You work for the hotel?" he asked.

Cobb shook his head. "No," he corrected. "My specialty is _subconscious_ security."

"You're talking about dreams," Robert asked, a memory stirring. "You're talking about extraction?"

Cobb nodded. "Exactly. My job is to protect you-" he began when there was a crashing sound as a waiter accidentally broke a champagne glass, and near the doorway he could see his children playing in the lobby; Robert was looking at him patiently and it was then that he became aware that the patrons were now staring at him and he quickly pulled himself together, shoving back the memories threatening to break loose.

"Mr. Fischer, my job is to protect you from any attempt to access your mind through your dreams," he continued, getting back his stride and the patrons resumed talking, no longer paying attention to him, and he leaned closer to the young businessman. "You're _not_ safe here," he whispered, moving from his seat to the other side of Robert. "Trust me. They're _coming_ for you."

* * *

Having left the elevator and Saito, Emma was now walking around the halls of the sixth floor, and _at least_ two security guys were following her, and once she lost them, she headed for the stairs; meanwhile on the third floor, Saito was walking down the hallway with a security guy following him, and he knew what he had to do to lose the guy while giving Cobb more time.

The Japanese man picked up his pace, almost running, and the security guy did the same; he ducked around a corner, dropped the wallet into a garbage chute, and then slipped into a nearby stairwell. The security guy, instead of following him, paused at the chute to retrieve the wallet before it was lost forever.

* * *

Back on the first level, Yusuf yelped when more gunshots fired at the van, and he fought the wheel, trying to avoid getting hit as one of the attackers leaned out of the front SUV and fired his shotgun; wind and rain ripped through the van, soaking the sleepers' faces.

* * *

"Strange weather, huh?" Cobb asked, nodding to the windows, and Robert watched as a sudden, hurricane-like rain slammed into the glass, and a tremor ran through the bar. "You feel that?"

* * *

In the lobby, both Arthur and Ariadne were aware of the sudden changes to the weather outside, and now the hotel guests were starting to look in Arthur's direction.

"What's happening?" Ariadne asked as the room shook.

"Cobb's drawing Fischer's attention to the strangeness of the dream," Arthur answered as several guests walking past looked directly at him. "That's making his subconscious look for the dreamer. For me. Quick, give me a kiss." He and Ariadne kissed for a moment, and then broke apart.

"They're still looking at us," said Ariadne, worried.

Arthur shrugged. "Yeah, it's worth a shot." And the young woman stared at him, surprised. "We should probably get out of here," he suggested, standing and walking away.

Ariadne sat for a moment, smiled, and then followed him toward the elevators. "Won't Emma be angry that we kissed?"

"Nah, it was her idea."

* * *

Meanwhile, Yusuf reached the end of the alley, and he threw the van into a hard right turn, causing the van to skid across the wet road, and this made the sleepers move from side to side, their seatbelts being the only thing keeping them in their seats.

* * *

In the bar, Robert stared in confusion as the liquid in his glass started moving up one side, and he let go of the glass, breathing hard.

"Very odd," Cobb commented, sitting down again, "the weather, the gravity…" and as he spoke, every piece of glass, including the hanging lights, began sliding at an 45-degree angle. "But I can explain all this," he continued, noting that Robert was starting to get scared. "You've actually been trained for this." And Robert nodded. "Think about the _strangeness_ of the weather, the _shifts_ in gravity. None of this is real," he concluded. "We're in a dream."

Robert stared at him, stunned, and soon all of the patrons, including the waiters, were staring at Cobb too.

"The simplest test of what I'm saying is for you to try and remember anything about the way you arrived in this hotel…okay?" Cobb suggested, and noted that Robert was starting to panic, and that some of the patrons were starting to rise out of their seats. "Breathe," he instructed, gesturing to himself. "Remember the training. Accept the fact that we're in a dream. That's why I'm here protecting you."

Robert nodded, calming down enough that his breathing slowed, and he fixed the man before him with a look. "So you…you're not real?" he asked and the room returned to normal, and the patrons resumed ignoring Cobb.

"No," Cobb confirmed. "I'm a projection of your subconscious. I was put in place to protect you in the event that extractors pulled you into a dream. I believe that's what has happened."

As Robert accepted this, a strange man in a gray suit entered the bar and sat down at the counter behind Cobb. "Yeah," he said quietly, "okay, okay." And he glanced at the security man. "Can you get me out of here?" he asked.

Cobb also glanced at the security man and then nodded. "Right away," he confirmed, standing up and taking Robert by the arm. "Follow me."

* * *

The two men left the bar and crossed the lobby, being followed by two security men; at one point Cobb spotted the kids and started to slow down when he realized they were being followed, and he had Robert go up the stairs instead. Soon they were running toward the restroom, followed by the security men, and he shoved Robert inside, causing him to stagger as he ducked behind a wall.

Robert turned and raised his hands when the security men entered the restroom, and headed straight toward him; Cobb jumped out and grabbed the gun of the second man, using it to shoot the first man in the back, and then used the gun on the second man, killing both.

"Jesus Christ!" Robert yelped. "What are you doing?!"

Cobb turned to him, showing him the gun from the second man. "Look at this gun," he instructed and then opened the jacket of the first man, revealing his holster and sidearm. "These men were sent to abduct you." He then removed the gun and handed it to Robert. "If I'm going to help you, I need you to be calm."

Robert took the gun and then remembered something from his training. "If this is a dream," he said, aiming the gun at his head, "I have to kill myself and wake up."

Cobb froze when he saw this. "I wouldn't do that," he warned, not wanting the young man to end up in limbo, "they've probably got you sedated. If you pull that trigger, you might not wake up, you might drop into a lower dream state." He held out a hand for the gun. "Mr. Fischer, you know all this, you just have to remember it…"

After a few tense seconds, Robert lowered the gun and allowed Cobb to take it since he did remember the warnings about ending up in limbo.

* * *

Stepping off the elevator, Arthur and Ariadne met up with Emma, who inquired if they had done the kiss and laughed when her husband flushed and Ariadne grinned at the older woman's smug expression, and they walked down the hallway until they reached a room that had the number 491 next to it; Arthur pulled out a keycard, inserted it, and they entered the room beyond, where he went to the closest, opened the safe, and pulled out a black backpack.

"So, if everything's correct, this room should be directly below 528," Arthur said, nodding to the ceiling and Ariadne confirmed it; he then went to the bed, opened the backpack, and he began taking out bricks of plastic explosives.

* * *

Down in the restroom, Robert was bent over one of the sinks, trying to remember what'd happen before he ended up in the hotel.

"What do you remember from before this dream?" Cobb asked reassuringly.

Robert thought for a moment, trying to recall what had happen. "Rain…gunfire…Uncle Peter," he whispered and then straightened up, scared. "Christ…we've been kidnapped."

"Where were they holding you?" Cobb asked while hoping that a projection of Browning _would_ show up.

Robert concentrated, trying to remember. "They had us…in the back of a van…"

"Your body's bouncing around in the back of a van right now," Cobb told him, "that explains the gravity shifts."

Robert nodded, still trying to remember everything that'd happen. "It was…to do with a safe." He groaned. "Christ, _why's_ it so hard to remember?"

"It's like trying to remember a dream after you've woken up," Cobb explained. "It takes _years_ of practice to do it easily. So, you and Browning have been pulled into this dream so they can steal something from your mind. What?"

Robert concentrated. "They wanted a combination to a safe," he answered, "they demanded the first numbers to pop into my head."

Cobb nodded. "That's them trying extracting a locator."

"A locator?" Robert asked, confused.

"A number from your own subconscious," Cobb explained. "It can be used any number of ways…" he thought for a moment. "This is a hotel. Room numbers. What was the number you gave them?" he asked.

Robert frowned, thinking again. "5, 2…something…it was a long number. 528…528, 4 something."

Cobb nodded, pulling out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Well, we know where to start," he remarked and then spoke into the phone. "Fifth floor." And taking Robert's arm again, they left the restroom and headed for the elevator.

* * *

"Yep." Arthur put away his phone and used a chair in order to reach the ceiling, where he placed the plastic explosive.

"Do you use a timer?" Ariadne asked.

"No, I have to judge it myself," Arthur answered as he got off the chair, grabbed another brick, and then headed over to a dresser. "Once you're all asleep up in room 528, I wait 'til Yusuf starts his kick…"

"How will you know?" Ariadne wondered.

"His music warns me it's coming, then the van hitting the barrier of the bridge should be unmistakable," Arthur explained, removing a vase and then climbed onto the dresser, "that's when I blow the floor out from underneath us and we get a nice synchronized kick. Too soon, and we won't get pulled out; too late and I won't be able to drop us."

"Why not?" Ariadne asked.

"The van will be in _free fall_," Arthur responded, hopping off the dresser. "I can't drop us with no gravity."

Ariadne nodded since that made sense and Arthur and Emma worked together to finish setting the remaining charges.

* * *

Arriving on the fifth floor, Cobb led Robert out of the elevator and into the hallway, where they found Arthur, Emma, and Ariadne waiting for them at the other end, and Robert slowed when he saw them, uncertain.

"They work for me," Cobb assured him.

Swallowing, Robert nodded and began checking the room numbers, moving halfway down the hall and then stopped in front of room 528; nodding at Arthur, the two men got into position, their guns in their hands while Emma and Ariadne pulled Robert back, and then Cobb kicked the door open.

* * *

Cobb entered the room first, followed by Arthur, and they checked the place while the women entered with Robert; Arthur checked the bathroom, and came back out with a familiar silver case.

"Mr. Charles."

"You know what this is?" Cobb asked as Arthur set the case on the bed and opened it, revealing the machine inside.

Robert nodded, recalling being shown one when he was being trained. "I think so," he answered. "But I don't understand."

"They were going to put you under," Cobb told him.

"I'm already under," Robert pointed out.

"Under _again_," Cobb corrected.

Robert frowned, realizing what he meant. "What do you mean, a dream within a dream?" and Cobb nodded.

* * *

Down in the lobby, Saito was walking around, looking for Eames when he saw Browning heading toward him. "Hey, I see you've changed."

"I'm sorry?" Browning asked just as Eames came around the corner and immediately shook his head frantically.

Saito ducked his head, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I mistook you for a friend."

"Good-looking fellow, I'm sure," Browning remarked, walking away.

Saito nodded and then looked at Eames, confused.

"No, no, no. That's Fischer's projection of Browning," Eames explained. "We'll keep an eye on how he behaves."

"Why?" Saito asked as they followed Browning.

"How he acts will tell us if Fischer's starting to suspect his motives the way we want him to," Eames responded.

* * *

Back in the room, Arthur glanced toward the door, hearing something. "Shhhh!" and he and Cobb moved toward the door with their guns ready; a keycard was used to unlock the door, and the person entered – Arthur grabbed the person's wrist, kicked him in the back of the leg to bring him down, and aimed his gun at the man's head.

It was Peter Browning.

"Uncle Peter," said Robert, surprised. "What's going on?"

Cobb took the keycard from Browning's hand, noting that it had 528 on it. "You said you were kidnapped together?" he asked.

"Not exactly, they already had him," Robert answered. "They'd been torturing him."

"You saw them torture him?" Cobb pressed.

Robert shook his head and noticed the guilty expression on his godfather's face. "The kidnappers are working for you?" he asked.

Browning shook his head. "No, Robert-"

"You're trying to get that safe open," Robert realized. "To get the alternate will."

Browning looked up at him sadly. "Fischer Morrow's been my entire life," he explained. "I can't let you destroy it."

"I'm _not_ going to throw away my inheritance," Robert protested, shocked that his godfather was acting like this. "Why would I?"

"I couldn't take the chance of you rising to your father's final _taunt_," Browning stated.

Robert was confused and hurt by these words. "What taunt?"

"The will, Robert, that _will_," Browning informed him. "I'm sorry, Robert, but it's his final insult. A challenge to build something for yourself. He's telling you that you aren't worthy of his achievements."

Devastated, Robert turned away, rubbing his face with his hands, and then faced his godfather again, his eyes bright with anger and betrayal. "That he was "disappointed"?" he asked, thinking of the final word his father had said to him right before dying, and the pain that came with it.

"I'm _so_ sorry," Browning apologized. "But he was wrong. You'll make his company even _greater_ than he ever could."

Cobb moved over to Robert and spoke quietly to him. "Your godfather's lying, Robert."

Robert looked at him with a conflicted expression. "How do you know?" he asked.

"It's what I do," Cobb responded. "He's hiding something." He glanced at Browning, who was still being pinned by Arthur, and then looked back at the young man. "Let's find out what," he suggested as Saito and Eames entered and grabbed the older man, allowing Arthur to go over to the machine and start the prep work with Emma while Ariadne gathered several chairs. "Let's do to him what he was going to do to you. We'll penetrate his subconscious and find out what he doesn't want you to know."

Robert stared at Cobb for a moment and then nodded, rolling up his sleeve. "Okay." He then let Cobb sit him on the bed next to the machine. Saito and Eames forced Browning into a chair, and Arthur passed over the tubes, one of which was strapped onto Browning's wrist, and he passed out when Eames sedated him.

Cobb put the second set of tubes onto Robert's wrist and he promptly passed out, and Cobb gently laid him on the bed. "He's out."

"Wait, Cobb, I'm lost," said Ariadne, sitting in a chair and Emma sat in the chair next to her while Saito and Eames got into position on the floor. "_Whose_ subconscious are we going into?"

"Fischer's," Cobb responded. "I told him it was Browning's so he'd come with us as part of our team."

Arthur was impressed. "He's going to help us break into his own subconscious," he commented as he and Cobb pulled out the remaining tubing to pass around.

"That's the idea," Cobb agreed, helping Saito with his tubes. "He'll think that his security is Browning's and fight them to learn the truth about his father."

"Smart," Arthur agreed and helped Eames with his tubes, strapping them to his wrist.

"Fischer's subconscious is going to run you down hard," Eames pointed out, lying flat on his back.

"And I shall lead them on a _merry_ chase," Arthur joked.

Eames grinned. "Just be back in time for the kick."

"Go to sleep, Mr. Eames," Arthur retorted, finishing up with the tape and stood up when the British man went to sleep; he then went over to Emma and helped her with her tubes, sharing a passionate kiss first. "Stay safe, and keep Eames out of trouble," he advised.

"I will," Emma promised before falling asleep seconds later.

Cobb sat down on the floor with his back resting against the side of the bed and was strapping the tubes on when the curtains on the window began moving in a familiar way.

"You good?" Arthur asked, his hand poised over the main button, and became concerned when Cobb didn't answer right away, still staring at the window. "Hey, you ready?"

Cobb pushed back the memories and finished putting on the tubes. "Yes, yes," he answered. "I'm fine. I'm ready." And when Arthur pushed the button, everything went white for Cobb.

* * *

A/N: Convincing Robert to join their side was a smart idea, wasn't it? Let me know what you think of my story so far. R&R everyone!


	5. Chapter 5: PRESSED FOR TIME

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I return with the next chapter and you all should know that there are just a few chapters to go after this.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_ or_ Batman_ I only own the character that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE: PRESSED FOR TIME**

Soon, Cobb was crouching on the side of a snow-covered mountain, dressed in a white snowsuit, and was peering through the scope of a sniper rifle, which was painted white, very much like the way that WWII commandos used to do it; far below them was a massive fortified medical facility.

"Cobb? Cobb?" Ariadne asked, standing nearby and wearing the same snowsuit with goggles covering her eyes, worried when he didn't answer right away. "What's down there?"

"Hopefully, the truth we want Fischer to learn," Cobb finally answered, still peering through the scope.

Ariadne frowned, noting that he was still looking distracted. "I meant what's down there for _you_?"

Cobb finally looked at her and then he turned back at the view, a look of uncertainty on his face. What _was_ down there for him?

* * *

Back on the second level, Arthur made sure that everything was running smoothly on the machine and looked around at the sleepers when he heard a thunder-like boom, and he looked toward the ceiling, worried.

* * *

On the first level, Yusuf was now being chased by two men on a motorcycle, and the guy on the back was armed with a shotgun and he fired it at the van; inside, Yusuf yelped and ducked while the van turned the corner sharply, shifting the sleepers in their seats.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arthur removed his coat and placed it on the bed, closed the briefcase, locking it, and then he went out into the hallway, making sure that the door was locked behind him; looking around, he headed down the hallway toward the elevator when the doors opened and a security guard stepped out.

Changing tact, Arthur looked down and turned the corner, heading in a different direction, and the security guard followed.

* * *

On the first level, a gunshot slammed into the van as Yusuf drove and he saw the motorcycle pulling up behind him; the rear passenger fired the shotgun at the van several times and then had to reload as the bike pulled alongside Yusuf's window. Yusuf yanked the wheel toward the bike, bringing the shotgun barrel into the cab, enabling him to grab it, and when he yanked it free, the rear passenger was sent tumbling across the wet road; Yusuf then turned a corner, heading into a disused market.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arthur continued walking down the hallway with the security guard following him still, and he ducked behind a corner, reaching for his gun as a second security guard appeared at the end of the hallway; pulling out his gun, Arthur stepped out, only to have the security guard grab his wrist, making him lose his grip, and they began fighting and crashing into the walls while the second security guard pulled out his own gun.

* * *

On the first level, the bike crossed behind the van, catching up again as the driver pulled a handgun and started blasting the back windows, almost hitting the sleepers inside; up ahead, an SUV sat in a side road, lining up to head off the van, and he gunned it as the bike creeped up on the other side of the van.

Seeing this, Yusuf hit the brakes, forcing the bike out into the path of the SUV, tossing the rider like a rag doll across the ground.

* * *

Suddenly, the hallway lurched and began tilting, causing Arthur and the security guard, who'd gotten an arm around his neck, to tumble to the floor that was staring to become a wall, and the other security guard collided with the nearest wall, throwing off his aim.

* * *

Yusuf fought to control the van as he skidded onto a different road and the sleepers moved with the sudden motion of the van as he raced onto a freeway on ramp, approaching the bridge.

* * *

The hallway continued tilting and Arthur finally got himself freed of the security guard and kicked him away as the floor became the wall, and the security guard fell to his death, slamming into the elevator doors; Arthur grabbed the former wall to keep from falling, too, and began pulling himself up, realizing that the second security guard had lost his gun, which was now sliding across the new floor.

* * *

Yusuf yelped when the SUV smashed into the van's side, forcing it up against a crash barrier and the van started to slowly tilt over the barrier as the SUV kept pushing, and he cried out as the van toppled over the barrier and down the incline toward the road below.

* * *

Having pulled himself up, Arthur ran along the wall, heading for the floor as the whole place continued to turn around him, along with the gravity, and attacked the security guard just as he grabbed his gun, knocking it free; as they fought, they ended up on the walls, the ceiling, and the floor again while the gun tumbled around.

Unexpectedly, the floor tilted so that they ended up sliding across it and through a door leading into a room, where they continued fighting as the whole room turned and tilted with the gun sliding around; at one point Arthur slammed a phone into the security guard's head while grabbing for the gun, just barely missing it.

Soon he ended up on the bed with the security guard trying to strangle him, but Arthur managed to kick him off, rolled off the bed, and grabbed the gun, firing it at the security guard as he leapt toward him. Arthur grunted as the dead body collided with him against the closest doors; pulling himself free as the room stabilized, he checked the gun and, when he saw that the clip was empty, he tossed the gun aside and stood up.

* * *

Yusuf cracked his eyes open when he realized that the van had stopped moving, and was relieved to see that they were all safe and alive, and he laughed. "Did you see that?" he started to ask, turning to the others, only to remember that they were all asleep; sighing he pulled onto the road and resumed driving.

* * *

Sore and breathing hard, Arthur left the room, walked down the hallway while keeping an eye out for more security guards, and pushed through several fire exit doors to gain access to the stairs.

* * *

Down on the third level, Eames, Emma, Saito, and Robert joined up with Cobb and Ariadne, and they all were wearing the same snowsuits, and they all were on skis; Cobb pulled both Eames and Emma aside so that Robert wouldn't be able to overhear.

"Eames, Emma, you're the dreamers," he told them. "I need you both to draw the security away from the complex."

Emma rolled her eyes, not thrilled. "Sure, we can do that."

"Then who guides Fischer in?" Eames asked. "You?"

Cobb shook his head, not thrilled at the option. "If I know the route…we could be compromised."

Emma grimaced at the idea of Mal showing up while Eames became uneasy, having heard enough stories of past job failures, and then Ariadne and Saito joined them, in time to overhear the last part.

"I designed the place," Ariadne offered.

"No," said Cobb. "You're with me."

"I could do it," Saito offered.

Cobb nodded, agreeing with the option. "Eames, Emma, brief Saito on the route into the complex," he instructed. "What we're looking for is going to be in the most heavily fortified section. That north tower." He then moved toward Robert while Saito began coughing and spitted out blood onto the snow, invoking concern from Eames and Emma, but he waved it off. "Mr. Fischer, you're going in with Mr. Saito," he informed him.

"You're not coming in?" Robert asked, surprised.

"You have to do this on your own," Cobb stated. "You _have_ to get in there, break into your godfather's mind and find out the truth about your father." He then tapped the radio that was connected to the young man's jacket. "Keep this live at all times. I'll be listening in, covering you." He held up the sniper rifle. "The windows on the upper floors are big enough that I can cover you from that south tower," he added.

Robert nodded and then followed Saito, who called out to him, down the hill toward the nearby mountains, while Eames and Emma headed for the fortress, along with Cobb and Ariadne.

* * *

Yusuf was now driving toward a bridge and a warming bell went off, indicating that the bridge was going to lift up soon, and he checked his watch, shaking his head as he hit the gas, speeding up when the SUV from earlier suddenly caught up with him as he crossed onto the bridge as the barrier began rising; the SUV just barely made it, with the rear axle being ripped off, and there was nothing Yusuf could do about it as the bridge section began to rise.

* * *

Down on the third level, Eames and Emma skied until they were in sight of the complex; exchanging uneasy looks of what they were about to do, Eames pulled out flare from Emma's backpack, and then fired it into the air. This got the attention of the hospital security instantly; the guards dropped from the ramparts and headed after the duo on skis, snowmobiles, and a hummer.

"Here we go," Emma muttered as they watched the security patrols close in, and then they launched themselves down the slope.

* * *

On the bridge, the guy from the SUV began firing at the van, and Yusuf pulled out his gun and fired back, but the attacker managed to avoid being hit.

"Sod it," he muttered, tossing aside the gun, he pulled an MP3 player and headphones out of a bag; climbing into the back of the van, he placed the headphones on Arthur's head, and then he noticed that Saito's bandages were soaked with blood, which wasn't a good sign.

Swallowing, Yusuf climbed back in the front seat, ducking down as the attacker continued firing at him, and he worked the controls on the MP3 player. "I hope you're ready." And he hit play so that Edith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" started playing._ '_Please_ be ready.'_

* * *

Arthur was running down the stairs and paused when he heard something echoing; after a few seconds, he realized that it was music from the first level. "No, Yusuf," he muttered, worried. "Too soon!" and he resumed running down the stairs, hoping to get to the right room before it was too late.

* * *

Down on the third level, Saito and Robert were repelling down the mountainside when the faint music reached the Japanese businessman's ears, and he looked around, concerned. It couldn't be time for the kick yet!

* * *

Eames and Emma were hiding at the base of some trees, watching the army approaching when they heard the music, too, and exchanged concerned looks.

"Cobb?" Eames asked over the radio. "Are you hearing that?"

* * *

Cobb and Ariadne were making their way toward the complex and stopped to listen, noting the echoing sounds.

_`"Emma and __I noticed it twenty minutes ago__,"`_ Eames reported,_ `"__at first I thought it was just wind__…"`_

"_But we're both sure that it has to be music,"`_ Emma added.

Cobb listened intensely, confirming that it wasn't wind they were hearing. "No, it's music," he confirmed. "Dammit."

_`"__What do we do__?"`_ Eames asked.

"We move fast," Cobb ordered, fear creasing his forehead. "Saito, did you copy?"

_`"__We're going as fast as we can__,"`_ Saito responded, coughing slightly.

* * *

At that moment, one of the snow vehicles pulled up nearby and the gunner on top spotted Eames and Emma, and they quickly bolted as the army tore through the trees after them.

* * *

Worried, Ariadne looked at Cobb, who was clearly thinking. "How long do we have?" she asked.

"Yusuf's about ten seconds from the jump," Cobb guessed, doing the math in his head, "which gives Arthur about three minutes, which gives us about-"

"Sixty minutes," said Ariadne.

Cobb nodded, coming to the same answer. "The route you gave them, can they do it in under an hour?" he asked.

Ariadne shook her head, recalling the design she'd come up with for Eames and Emma. "I don't think so," she admitted. "They've still got to climb down to the middle terrace."

"Then they need a new route," Cobb insisted, wracking his brain. "A more direct route."

* * *

Meanwhile, Yusuf was getting the van into position while the attacker continued firing at the van, he glanced behind him to pinpoint the location of the barrier, and then he glanced at his watch.

* * *

Arthur reached the fourth floor of the hotel and peered around the corner at room 491, spotting two security guards standing guard in front of it._ 'Dammit!'_ he thought, but he knew there was only one way he could get rid of the security guards.

Moving forward a bit, he called out to them. "Hey!" and then bolted back for the stairs, one of the security guards gave chase while the other went a different direction.

* * *

"The building's designed as a labyrinth," Ariadne explained.

"There _must_ be access routes that cut through the maze," Cobb snapped and then spoke into his radio. "Eames? Emma?"

* * *

Unfortunately, Eames and Emma were too busy skiing down the mountain, trying to avoid the bullets that were slamming into the tree trunks around them as the army continued giving chase, and they would fire back a few times, taking out one or two of the soldiers that were on skis, too.

* * *

Frustrated at how everything was going to heck, Cobb turned to Ariadne when he couldn't get response. "Did Eames or Emma add any features?" he asked.

Ariadne nodded. "Yes."

"What did they add?" Cobb inquired.

Ariadne stared at him, alarmed. "I shouldn't tell you," she protested, fearing of _who_ might show up if she did. "If Mal-"

"There's no time," Cobb snapped, although he understood her reluctance to tell him. "_What_ did they add?"

Ariadne wracked her memory of the design, trying to recall all that Eames and Emma, after _a lot_ of arguing, had added to the main design. "Utility closets, trap doors…"

"What about service features?" Cobb suggested. "Did they add any large pipes or-?"

"Ducts," Ariadne remembered. "Eames added an air duct system – it doesn't follow the maze. They can use it to go straight from the outer walls to the upper tower."

"Explain it to them," Cobb ordered.

Nodding, Ariadne spoke into her radio. "Saito?"

* * *

Still on the cliff, Saito was using his hammer to put in a new belay pin when his radio spoke, and he responded. "Go ahead."

* * *

Pulling a _very_ long rope with a weighted end from his backpack, Eames tossed one end to Emma, who caught it, and they skied through the trees, looping the rope around the trunks, reached the edge of the tree-line, and they yanked the rope tight, knocking over a dozen soldiers off their skis and snowmobiles in one go.

* * *

On the first level, Yusuf pulled forward as far as he could, checked behind him and then he checked his watch as the attacker continued advancing, still firing at the van.

* * *

Arthur bolted down the stairs, the security guard stopping on the landing and firing at him; forcing to duck, he ran down the next flight of stairs while the guard struggled to reload his gun – and Arthur grabbed him from behind.

An expression of horror etched itself across the man's face when he realized that he was now standing on the edge of a dangerous drop, and that Arthur's grip on his gun hand and neck were the only things keeping him from falling to his death.

"Paradox," Arthur told him before giving him a hard push, releasing his grip, and the guard fell screaming to his death; he then ran back of the stairs as fast as he could to get back to the fifth floor before it was too late.

* * *

On his level, Yusuf put the van into reverse, gave the advancing attacker the finger, and slammed his foot on the gas, heading backwards toward the barrier.

* * *

Reaching the fifth floor, Arthur sprinted down the hallway toward room 528.

* * *

Yusuf braced himself as the van collided with the barrier and started going over the edge of the bridge.

* * *

Arthur was halfway down the hallway when the blow from the kick hit, causing the floor to drop from underneath him, and Arthur suddenly found himself in freefall, heading toward the elevator.

* * *

At that moment, Eames and Emma shot out of the trees as the blow hit, knocking them down as an _massive _crack suddenly opened up in front of them; thinking fast, Eames hooked the strap of his rifle on a nearby rock and grabbed Emma's arm, keeping them both from falling into the crack.

* * *

Hearing a loud rumbling sound from above, both Saito and Robert looked up and their jaws dropped when they saw an avalanche of snow heading directly toward them; realizing that it was the kick, Saito worked fast.

"Look out!" he shouted before cutting the rope, and soon both men were falling the remainder of the way down the cliff-side; slamming into the icy slope, they both tumbled and slid down the slope so that they were soon clear of the avalanche of snow.

* * *

Realizing that the van was now in free fall as he continued falling toward the elevator, Arthur scrambled around through the air for a handhold of some kind, and managed to grab hold of a wall lamp, clinging to it for dear life.

* * *

Hiding behind some trees, Cobb and Ariadne watched as the avalanche of snow flew past the complex and fell apart.

"What was _that_?" Ariadne asked, startled.

"The kick," Cobb answered dejectedly.

_`"Cobb? __Cobb? Did we miss it__?"`_ Eames shouted over the radio.

"Yeah," Cobb confirmed, "we missed it."

What on _Earth_ were they going to do now?

* * *

A/N: So, what will they do now that they have missed the kick? Tune in next week to find out! R&R everyone!


	6. Chapter 6: NO GRAVITY

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I'm back and I can tell you that there are just three more chapters to go on this story.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: NO GRAVITY**

Groaning, Saito got up and went to help Robert, who threw his climbing helmet off in disgust, having had enough of the cold weather.

"Man, couldn't have someone dreamt up a goddamn _beach_?!" he complained, pushing Saito away as they headed for the complex.

Saito agreed, just what had Eames been thinking to have them in a mountain area filled with snow, and _why_ had Emma gone with it?

* * *

"What the _hell_ do we do now?" Eames asked from where he and Emma were sprawled in the snow.

_`"__Finish the job before the next kick__,"`_ Cobb answered.

"What next kick?" Emma asked, hoping that Arthur was all right.

* * *

"When the van hits the water," Cobb answered and looked at Ariadne. "I figure Arthur's got a couple minutes and we've got about twenty. Come on!" and they both ran for the complex.

* * *

Once the hallway was back to normal, Arthur released his grip on the lamp and found himself floating above the floor; annoyed with the fact that the gravity was gone, he made his way down the hallway until he reached room 528. Pulling out the keycard he'd taken from Browning earlier, he gain entrance to the room, and found the sleepers all floating in the air, still connected to the briefcase.

"How the _hell_ do I drop you without gravity?" he muttered, clinging to the doorframe, eying the situation since he knew that he didn't have that much time until the van hit the water, resulting in a second kick.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eames and Emma were heading toward the complex, when the army, which had grown larger, caught up with them, and they were forced to dive for cover behind a bank of trees as the soldiers fired at them.

"Now I know how our troops feel in the Middle East," Emma grumbled, covering her head with her hands.

"Don't you have a brother in the service?" Eames asked, keeping an eye on the soldiers while avoiding being shot.

"Two actually," Emma responded, "and both are marines snipers."

Eames chuckled. "I'm guessing that these would be the same brothers that beat me up and threw me into that manure pile a while back," he guessed.

Emma grinned. "Yup, those are the ones."

"Joy."

* * *

Meanwhile, Saito, who was coughing again, and Robert ran around the base of the complex until they found a large exhaust port covered by a grill; Saito tugged on it a few times before gesturing to Robert to turn around so that he could pull out both a plastic explosive charge and a detonator. Placing the charge on the grill, he and Robert ran around a corner for cover, and he blew the charge, resulting in a large hole.

Once the smoke was cleared, Saito and Robert went back and climbed through the hole, gaining access to the air duct system beyond; as they headed up, the Japanese businessman suddenly doubled over, coughing so bad that he pulled off his hat to cover his mouth and the blood.

Robert went over to him, concerned. "You okay?" he asked and Saito gestured for him to keep going while nodding.

* * *

Eames was checking on the army when they suddenly stop firing and several shouted as they started back toward the complex.

"Um, what's going on?" Emma asked, surprised.

"Not sure," Eames muttered and pushed a button on his radio. "Cobb? Something's wrong," he reported. "They're heading your way. Like they know something."

* * *

Cobb frowned when he heard this, especially since he and Ariadne were only a few feet from the clearing that led to the complex. "J-just buy us some more time, okay?" he ordered and nodded to Ariadne while readying his sniper rifle. "Come on!" and they resumed running toward the complex.

* * *

"On our way," Eames responded, and both he and Emma got up and ran toward the army, determined to give their teammates more time; spotting a snowmobile moving in the same direction with a soldier holding on the back, they knocked him down with their skis and poles, losing them in the process, and clung onto the back of the moving vehicle.

Eames pulled himself up behind the driver, knocked his head into the handlebars, and tossed him to the ground while pulling himself and Emma onto the seat, and they drove after the retreating army.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cobb shot the remaining guards as he and Ariadne ran toward the south tower.

* * *

Making his way back to the fourth floor, Arthur pulled himself along the ceiling toward room 491; he was pushing aside a free-floating cleaning cart and found the remaining security guard hiding behind it, reaching for his gun. Reacting quickly, Arthur slammed the cleaning cart into the man's hand, sending the gun spinning away, and then tackled the guard, resulting in them bouncing all over the hall as they fought.

Soon Arthur was able to get the guy's own arm around his neck, strangling the man until he finally stopped moving, and he resumed moving down the hallway.

* * *

Saito and Robert continued climbing through the duct system, climbing up a ladder toward the next level with the businessman coughing and struggling to keep up.

* * *

Eames kept driving toward the patrols that were heading back to the complex; when one of them looked back and saw them.

As two of the soldiers opened fire, Emma managed to get her rifle around Eames, and fired off several shots, killing both soldiers; Eames then drove them through them some nearby trees, trying to get ahead of the army.

* * *

Finally reaching room 491, Arthur got the door open and pulled himself into the room. "All right," he grunted, grabbing the first charge and the backpack, and then went on collecting the remaining charges.

* * *

Taking out two more soldiers, Cobb and Ariadne finally gain entrance to the south tower, where he pushed a window open, set up his sniper rifle and peered through his scope as he removed his goggles and hat.

"That's the antechamber outside the strong room," Ariadne said, pointing out a long row of large windows.

Cobb peered through the scope. "What about the strong room?" he asked. "Doesn't it have any windows?"

"Wouldn't be very strong if it did," said Ariadne and rolled her eyes at the look he shot at her. "Look, if you wanted to design it yourself-"

"It's fine," said Cobb quickly. "Better hope that Fischer likes what he finds in there." And resumed peering through the scope, spotting and shooting several guards that came into view.

Ariadne frowned, watching Cobb shooting the guards. "These projections, they're part of his subconscious?" she asked.

"Yes," Cobb confirmed, taking out another guard.

"Are you destroying those parts of his mind?" Ariadne asked, alarmed.

"No, of course not," Cobb countered. "They're just projections."

* * *

Now wearing the backpack, Arthur returned to room 528, disconnected Browning from the machine, and worked on moving the sleepers into several head-and-tail positions; when he reached for Saito, he frowned when he saw that blood droplets were starting to float out of the sleeping man's mouth as he weakly coughed.

'_Hold on, Saito,'_ he thought, pulling the Japanese man into position,_ 'just hold on a bit longer.'_

* * *

Supporting Saito, who was coughing badly, Robert managed to get them to the grate that was covering the exit to the anteroom; helping the Japanese man lie down, he spoke into his radio. "We're here," he reported quietly. "Are we clear to proceed?"

* * *

Cobb checked the anteroom through his scope and couldn't see anyone inside. "You're clear, but hurry – there's an _entire _army headed your way…"

* * *

As said army continued heading toward the complex, Eames and Emma continued driving to find a way to stop the army.

* * *

Having gotten the sleepers into position with the briefcase tucked between Robert and Cobb, Arthur removed the cable from the phone and worked on pulling it out of the wall; once he had enough, he looped it around the sleepers and carefully spun them several times to tie them together.

* * *

Reluctantly leaving Saito wheezing on the floor, Robert removed his hat, moved toward the grate, peered through it to make sure that the coast was still clear, and whispered into his radio. "I'm in." Wincing at the static that came as a response, he turned it off, and he reached out to grab and push the grate down, gun in hand.

* * *

Finally coming up with a plan and catching up with the head of the army, Eames and Emma zoomed into view, startling the soldiers as Eames drove the snowmobile at the ropes that connected them to the hummer, and then Emma cut the lines with her knife, sending the soldiers tumbling backwards into the snow; moving along side the hummer, Eames tossed something to the soldier on top.

The soldier caught the object, which was a plastic explosive brick set on a timer that had seconds left, and he looked up alarmed; Eames gave him a thumbs up and kept driving while the explosive went off, destroying the hummer and everyone inside.

* * *

Having tied them securely, Arthur carefully pushed the floating stack of sleepers out of the hotel room and down the hallway toward the elevator while keeping an eye out for any remaining security guards floating around.

* * *

Quietly, Robert lowered the grate to the floor and stepped out, still keeping an eye out for any guards that Cobb, who was watching from the south tower, might've missed and made his way toward the complicated-looking doors.

* * *

In the south tower, Cobb watched as the young man headed for the door and then saw a pair of black boots appear in the window, someone was climbing inside through the skylight!

"Shit," he cursed. "There's someone else in there." And he prepared to fire while Ariadne shouted into her radio, unaware that Robert had turned his off.

"Fischer, stop! It's a trap!" she shouted, watching helplessly as Robert continued crossing the anteroom. "He must've turned his radio off."

Cobb quietly cursed, but kept watching the progress of the guard, waiting for the right moment. "Come on," he muttered, his finger on the trigger, "a little lower…a little-" he then froze when the figure dropped into view, revealing to be Mal, who glanced directly at him with a smirk before moving toward the unsuspecting Robert.

Ariadne panicked when she saw the older woman and hissed at Cobb, who was still staring in shock. "Cobb, that's not really her."

"How can you know that?" Cobb asked quietly, staring at his dead wife with longing.

"Cobb, she's _just_ a projection," Ariadne insisted. "Fischer…he's _real_."

Realizing that she was right, Cobb pulled himself together and took aim – but it was too late.

* * *

Robert was just a few feet from the doors when he heard footsteps behind him and started to turn; Saito, who had been slowly pulling himself toward the opening, spotted Mal and struggled to get his gun out, realizing what would most likely happen if she interfered.

"Hello," said Mal as Robert faced her, and she shot him twice in the chest.

* * *

Cobb reflexively pulled the trigger as Robert collapsed and shot Mal, who crumbled with a startled expression on her face.

"Eames! Emma!" Ariadne screamed into her radio. "Get to the anteroom _now_!" and both she and Cobb ran for the door.

* * *

Hearing Ariadne's screams over the radio and fearing the worse, Eames gunned the snowmobile and, once they were near enough to the complex, he and Emma jumped off the vehicle, and rolled across the snow while retaining their rifles; getting up and tossing aside their goggles, they both ran for the air duct system.

* * *

Reaching the elevator, Arthur pushed the button and, luckily, the door slid open; he pushed the sleepers into the elevator, and then pulled himself inside, shutting the doors behind him.

* * *

Entering the system, Eames and Emma climbed through until they found Saito, slumped on the ground, barely conscious; after checking on him, they climbed through the vent and entered the anteroom, where Emma froze when she saw Mal's dead body on the floor, not far from Robert's body.

Grabbing an AED from the wall, Eames nudged her, getting her to focus, and they ran over to Robert; Cobb and Ariadne ran up the stairs and into the anteroom just as Eames got Robert's jacket open and Emma was prepping the AED.

"What happened?" Eames asked, pulling up Robert's shirt.

"Mal killed Fischer," Ariadne answered, making Emma curse.

Cobb stared at his wife's dead body. "I couldn't shoot her," he admitted.

"More like you _wouldn't_," Emma snapped, handing the pads to Eames to put on Robert's chest. "Dammit, Cobb."

Cobb knew that he'd screwed up the job and that they were out of time. "It won't do any good," he told them as Eames placed the pads onto the young man's chest. "Even if you could revive his body, his mind's trapped down there. It's over," he added, pulling off his backpack.

Eames exchanged a grim look with Emma, who turned the AED off, clearly dejected, and he looked back at Cobb, annoyed. "So that it, then?" he asked. "We failed?"

"I'm sorry," Cobb apologized.

"It's you who wants get back to your family," Eames pointed out, and then glanced toward the double doors. "I wanted to know what was going to happen in there. I _think_ we had this one."

"Well, with Fischer _stuck_ in limbo, we'll never know," Emma stated, upset. "And when Fischer _finally_ wakes up, his mind is going to be gone," she added, shooting a look at Cobb, who sadly nodded. "We're _so_ screwed."

"Let's plant the charges," Cobb advised, and Eames and Emma removed their backpacks to get the charges out.

Ariadne, however, was thinking fast, going over everything that she'd learned while getting ready to pull the job off, and what Cobb had told her about limbo, and it was then that she got an idea. "There's still a way…we _follow_ Fischer down," she informed them.

Eames shook his head. "We're almost out of time."

"And limbo's too dangerous," Emma added, thinking of what it'd done to Mal. "The odds of you finding Fischer's unlikely."

"Down there there'll _be_ enough time," Ariadne insisted, positive that her plan would work. "We'll find him – soon as you both hear Arthur's music start, you use the defibrillator to revive him – we give him his own early kick from below." She then pointed toward the doors. "Get him in there," she continued. "Then, as the music ends you both blow the hospital and we all ride the kick back up through the layers."

Eames and Emma considered what the young woman suggested, and then looked at Cobb. "Okay, Saito can hold them off while we plant the charges," he suggested.

Cobb nodded, but then voiced his concerns about Saito, who was clearly dying. "Saito's not going to last, Eames, Emma," he stated. "Right?"

"At the rate he's fading, not very likely," Emma admitted.

"We have to try!" Ariadne insisted.

"Go for it," Eames agreed, pulling out a familiar silver briefcase from his backpack, "but we're taking the kick whether you're back or not."

Nodding, Cobb took the briefcase and he and Ariadne moved a few feet away while Eames and Emma headed back down the vent to get Saito.

While Cobb got the machine ready, Ariadne pulled off her gloves and backpack, voicing her concerns since she knew that Robert wasn't going to be the only one down there.

"Can I trust you to do what's needed?" she asked, accepting the tubes he handed her. "Mal's down there-"

"And I can find her," Cobb assured her. "She'll have Fischer."

"How do you know?" Ariadne asked, surprised as she taped the tubes on.

"She wants me to come after him," Cobb explained, taping the tubes on. "She wants me back down there with her." And as they both lay down on the floor, he glanced at her as he pushed the button, releasing the drugs into the tubing.

* * *

A/N: Until the next chapter, folks. R&R everyone!


	7. Chapter 7: LIMBO

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: Hey, so I'm posting this chapter a day early since tomorrow is Pioneer Day and it's very likely that I'll be very busy tomorrow with my family, real life and all that. So, now you'll get to see how Ariadne will handle Limbo.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: LIMBO**

Gasping, Ariadne suddenly found herself lying in foaming water, waves crashing over her, and she was now wearing a black jacket over a red tank top and a gray shirt, dark jeans, and boots; hearing a loud boom, she looked around to see that there was decaying urban buildings all along the beach, and she saw a large section break off and crumbled into the water, very much like a part of a glacier.

Ariadne then saw Cobb, now soaking wet and wearing dark green clothes and boots, heading toward her, wading through the churning water; reaching her, he helped Ariadne up as they were hit with another wave, and she gaped at the sight.

"This is your world?" she asked, amazed.

"It was," Cobb confirmed, remembering how beautiful it used to be. "And this is where she'll be. Come on." And he led her toward the dying city as the buildings around them continued collapsed and the water slowly moved up the beach.

* * *

During all of this, the van slowly fell through the air and toward the water below with everyone free floating in their seats, with only the seatbelts keeping them in place.

* * *

After making sure that the doors would remain shut, Arthur pulled himself up toward the emergency hatch and hit it hard with his fist, the force knocking him toward the floor while the hatch opened up; grabbing the wall, he pulled himself toward the opening, and out into the elevator shaft where he examined the location of the brakes and the cord while holding onto the hatch door.

* * *

Down on the third level, the surviving guards were climbing up the walls and were heading into the complex; working together, Eames and Emma hauled Saito out of the duct and into the anteroom, where they got him sitting and leaning against a pillar while ducking the gunfire from the guards that'd reached the south tower.

"Come on, Saito," said Eames, putting the gun into his ungloved hand. "We _need_ you to cover Fischer while we plant the charges."

"No room for tourists on these jobs," Saito joked weakly, trying to hold his gun.

Eames smiled and put a grenade in the younger man's gloved hand and patted it. "Don't be silly."

Dodging the gunfire still, they returned to Robert's body, where Eames double-checked the pads while Emma turned the AED back on, and started the charging process; grabbing their rifles and their backpacks, which now had the charges back in them, and ran for the stairs.

* * *

Working their way through the waves, Cobb and Ariadne soon reached dry land and kept walking through the crumbling buildings and she looked around in amazement, especially at the buildings in the distance.

"You built all this?" Ariadne asked.

"We both did," Cobb confirmed.

"It's incredible."

"We built for years," Cobb explained. "Then, when that got stale, we started in on the memories." Just then he heard the sound of children laughing and he stopped; down a side street, he saw his children playing before they ran off. "This way," he said and they followed the kids.

* * *

Positioning the backpack so that it was on his chest, Arthur placed some of the explosives on the emergency brakes and one of the cables, arming them before pulling himself up the cable a ways before pulling out the detonator; making sure that the area was clear, he pushed the button on the detonator.

The explosives went off, destroying the brakes and sent the cable flying, making Arthur duck to keep from getting hit; once the air cleared, he put the detonator back into the backpack, and pulled himself back down the main cable toward the elevator.

* * *

Following his children, Cobb and Ariadne emerged onto a large square and walked through the buildings, which weren't nearly as decayed as the buildings near the beach, but even there, there was an air of abandonment and decay; as they walked through the square, he pointed to a series of broken-down apartments and houses on either side of a bridge they were now crossing.

"This is our neighborhood," Cobb told her.

"From what city?" Ariadne asked, confused.

"No," Cobb corrected. "_Our_ neighborhood." He then pointed to certain apartments and houses. "That was our first apartment…then we moved to that building…we got that small house when Mal became pregnant."

Ariadne was impressed by the faded detail. "You reconstructed them all from memory?"

Cobb nodded. "We had time." He then paused in front of a French country house, and stared at it.

"What's that?" Ariadne asked.

"The house Mal grew up in," Cobb answered softly.

Ariadne eyed the decaying building. "Will she be in there?"

Cobb shook his head, already knowing where his late wife would be. "No. Come on." And he led her to the entrance of a glass skyscraper; once inside, he led her across a gleaming lobby and toward a set of elevators. "We both wanted a house, but we both loved skyscrapers," he explained. "In the real world we had to choose. Not here."

Reaching the elevators, Cobb pushed a button with the doors opening on one, they entered, and then he pushed a different button.

* * *

Bursting out onto the terrace, Eames and Emma knocked down several guards with their rifles, and then fired and took out even more guards as they ran along the terrace, only to be tackled by two guards hiding behind a corner.

* * *

Reaching the underside of the elevator, Arthur moved around the base, placing and arming the explosives on the regular brakes.

* * *

As they rode the elevator upwards, Cobb pulled out a handgun and a ziplock bag that had several gun clips in it.

"How do we send Fischer back?" Ariadne asked, watching as he slipped a clip into the gun.

"We need some kind of kick," Cobb answered.

"What?" Ariadne inquired.

"I'll improvise," said Cobb, cocking the gun. "Listen, there's something you have to understand about me. About inception."

* * *

On the terrace, Eames and Emma fought the guards, kicking and hitting them as they moved closer toward the balcony, and the duo grunted as the guards slammed their fists into their stomachs.

* * *

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open; holding his gun in front of him, Cobb led Ariadne down a familiar hallway.

"You see, an idea is like a virus," he explained, moving toward the kitchen. "Resilient… highly contagious, and an idea can grow. The smallest seed of an idea can grow to _define_ or _destroy_ your world."

Just then they entered the kitchen and Cobb paused when he saw Mal, who was sitting at the table in a nice dark blue dress, and he slowly lowered the gun, which made Ariadne worry, especially the expression on his face: a mixture of longing and guilt.

"The smallest idea, such as… "Your world is not real"," Mal suggested from the table, idly fingering a long knife as she glanced at them. "A simple little thought that changes _everything_," she added watching her husband, who handed his gun to Ariadne and then moved to sit across from her at the table.

As Cobb sat down, Mal glanced at Ariadne, who was slowly moving into the room while keeping her distance from the angry woman. "So _certain_ of your world," she remarked. "Of what's real. Do you think _he_ is-" she nodded to her husband, who was looking wary now. "Or do you think he's as _lost_ as I was?"

"I know what's real, Mal," Cobb told her, getting her to look at him as he gently touched her arm.

Mal smirked, almost as if she knew something that he didn't. "What are the distinguishing characteristics of a dream?" she asked, stroking his hand. "Mutable laws of physics?" she scoffed. "Tell that to the quantum physicists. Reappearance of the dead? What about heaven and hell? Persecution of the dreamer, the creator, the messiah? They crucified Christ, didn't they?"

"I know what's real," Cobb repeated, but with less conviction then before, almost as if he wasn't so sure now.

"No creeping doubts?" Mal pressed gently. "Not feeling persecuted, Dom? Chased around the globe by anonymous corporations and police forces? The way the projections persecute the dreamer?" she then put her hands on his face, gently stroking him with a look of pity and longing. "Admit it, Dom," she whispered as Cobb seemed to fall into a trance, his eyes fluttering shut a few times. "You don't believe in one reality anymore. So _choose_. Choose your reality like I did. Choose to be _here_. Choose _me_."

* * *

On the terrace, the guards kept beating up Eames and Emma, tossing their rifles over the railing, and then they both yelped when the guards lifted them and threw them over the tailing toward the ground below.

Grunting, they tumbled down the side and grabbed onto a nearby rock to stop; they then grabbed their rifles and fired just as the guards jumped down toward them, killing them instantly.

"We _so_ need a new line of work after this," Emma muttered as the other guards continued firing at them.

"For once I agree, dearie," Eames agreed as they scrambled toward the base of the complex with the explosives. They were running out of time.

* * *

After setting and arming the final explosive, Arthur climbed the cable back to the top of the elevator, pulled himself back inside, and went to work on untying the sleepers; having positioned them across the floor, he was removing the last of the cord from Saito when he noticed that there was a red liquid on his hand.

Frowning, Arthur pulled back the Japanese man's jacket and saw that blood was starting to spread across the front of his shirt, _exactly_ where he'd been shot in the first level, and that he was barely breathing.

'_Damn it!'_ Arthur thought as he pushed the cord away and got Saito into position._ 'Not good!'_

* * *

In the anteroom, Saito was weakly coughing as he continued to die, barely able to stay awake.

* * *

"I _have_ chosen, Mal," Cobb told her seriously, anger in his eyes. "Our children. I have to get back to them. Because _you_ left them. You left _us_."

"You're wrong, Dom," Mal stated, pulling away. "You're confused…our children are _here_-" and she nodded toward a hallway, where they could see James and Philippa were playing together. "And you'd like to see their faces again, wouldn't you, Dom?"

Cobb _did_ want to see his children again, but not the versions in limbo. "Our _real_ children are waiting for me up above," he declared, and Ariadne was silently relieved to hear this, but even she knew that they weren't out of the woods yet. They still didn't know where Robert was being held.

* * *

Eames and Emma ran around the base of the complex, firing at the guards while placing and arming the charges; at one point, Eames threw a grenade at a group of guards that were on one of the terraces, and blew them up.

* * *

Meanwhile, some of the guards found the entrance to the air duct system, and they began climbing through it toward the anteroom.

* * *

Saito turned his head toward the vent when he heard the sounds of footsteps; glancing at Robert's body, he struggled to lift his gun.

* * *

Mal laughed at her husband's words. "Up above?" she repeated. "Listen to yourself. You judged me for believing the very same thing." She then pointed to the kids in the other room. "These _are_ our children. Watch." She then called to them. "Hey, James? Philippa?"

As the children started to turn, Cobb quickly turned away, shutting his eyes tightly, scared. "They're not real, Mal," he insisted, opening his eyes and facing his wife. "Our _real_ children are waiting for _us_. For _me_."

"You keep telling yourself that but you don't believe it," Mal stated.

"I _know_ it," Cobb stated.

Mal didn't believe him. "And what if you're wrong?" she asked. "What if I'm what's real?" she waited, but when Cobb didn't answer, she pushed the issue. "You keep telling yourself what you _know_…but what do you _believe_? What do you _feel_?"

Cobb sighed, realizing that Ariadne was right, it was time to face his wife and let go of the guilt he'd been carrying with him for the last five years; it was time to reveal the final truth of what really happened. "Guilt," he answered. "I feel _guilt_. And however _confused_ I might get…however _lost_ I might seem…it's always there. Telling me something. Reminding me of the _truth_."

Mal looked at him, confused. "What truth?"

"That you were wrong to doubt our world," Cobb explained, swallowing. "That the idea that drove you to question your reality was a lie…"

"How could you _know_ it was a lie?" Mal asked, still confused.

Cobb swallowed again. "Because it was my lie," he confessed.

Mal stared at him, realization dawning on her face. "Because you planted the idea in my mind."

"What is she talking about?" Ariadne asked, not understanding.

"The reason I knew inception was possible was because I did to her first," Cobb explained. "I performed inception on my own wife, then reaped the bitter rewards…"

"Why?" Ariadne asked, shaken by the truth.

"We'd become lost in here," Cobb explained, his eyes fixed on his wife. "Living in a world of infinite possibilities. A world where we were gods. I realized we needed to escape, but she'd locked away her knowledge of the unreality of this world…"

* * *

_Mal __opens a doll's house and inside is a safe; she opens it and it is empty, and she pulls out her top__. She puts the top inside the safe and locks it away._

_`"__I couldn't make Mal understand that we needed to break free. To die. So I started to search our world__…"`_

_Cobb searches the streets of the limbo city, looks for what his wife has hidden from him._

_`"__Searching for the right place in her mind__…"`_

_Cobb searches the buildings and the streets until he reaches Mal's childhood home; he stares at it, and then he heads inside._

_`"__And when I found that place, that secret place where she had shut away her knowledge years before, I broke it open__…"`_

_Cobb looks around her childhood bedroom and then approaches the dollhouse. _

_`"__I broke into the deepest recess of her mind, to give her the simplest little idea__."`_

_Cobb opens the safe door and he sees inside his wife's top, it lies on its' side and is surrounded by dust._

_`"__A truth that she had once known, but had chosen to forget__…."`_

_Cobb reaches inside, picks up the top, and he starts the top spinning; he watches it for several seconds and then he closes the safe._

_`"__That her world was not real__."`_

_Cobb and Mal walk together to a train track that is on the limits of the city, and Mal is crying._

_`"__That death was a necessary escape__."`_

_Together they lie down on the tracks, looking into each other eyes, and they hold hands; Cobb hears the train coming and he starts talking._

_`"__You're waiting for a train,"` he tells her. `"A train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't know for sure. Yet it doesn't matter__…"` he sees the train is inches away. `"Now tell me why!"`_

_`"__Because you'll be together__!"` Mal shouts over the noise, seconds before the train hits them both, and they wake back up in their living room, where Arthur and Emma are waiting for them._

* * *

"I never thought that the idea I'd planted would grow in her mind like a cancer," Cobb explained tearfully. "That even after we woke…"

* * *

_Cobb looks around the messed up hotel suite, confused, and then he moves to the window, and he sees Mal on the ledge across from him._

* * *

"You'd continue to believe that your world was not real," Cobb concluded tearfully, and Ariadne stared at him, shocked.

Mal was now crying. "That death was the only escape?" she whispered. "You killed me."

"I was _trying_ to save you," Cobb told her. "I'm sorry."

Mal was upset, but it was clear that she still loved him anyways. "You _infected_ my mind," she told him. "You _betrayed_ me. But you can make amends. You can still keep your promise," she added hopefully. "We can still be together…right here. In our world. The world we built together."

* * *

Back at the complex, Saito tried to fire at the soldiers coming up the air duct, but he couldn't get a clear shot; outside, Eames and Emma were busy shooting the soldiers, tossing grenades, and planting and arming the charges all around the base of the complex.

Mustering the last of his strength, Saito pulled the pin out of the grenade with his teeth and tossed it into the air duct system; seconds later, there was an massive explosion that killed all of the soldiers. Gasping, Saito finally slumped slightly, his eyes sliding shut as he died, his mind dropping into limbo.

* * *

Unaware, Eames and Emma took out the remaining soldiers, diving over a terrace after tossing a grenade; they then returned to the anteroom and stopped when they saw that Saito was dead.

* * *

In the elevator, Arthur pulled an MP3 player and two headsets from the backpack, placed the headphones on Eames and Emma's heads, and hit play so that Edith Piaf started playing; he then moved to the side of the elevator, near the control box, and wedged himself under the railing, gripping it tightly with one hand.

Arthur pulled out the detonator with his other hand and held it tightly, waiting and silently counting down while Eames and Emma began to react to the music.

* * *

Hearing the music, Emma and Eames ran to Robert's body, where they tossed aside their rifles and got rid of their hats; Emma finished prepping the AED while Eames double-checked the paddles, and nodded.

Returning the nod, Emma charged up the AED and pushed the button, sending a shock through the young man's body, making it jump.

* * *

In limbo, light and thunder crackled across the sky as storm clouds suddenly appeared, tearing apart the buildings, and Ariadne jumped, realizing what it meant. "Cobb, we need to get Fischer."

"You can't have him," Mal snapped angrily.

Cobb stared at her, his mind buzzing with thoughts. "If I stay, can she take him back?" he asked.

Ariadne stared at him, alarmed. "Cobb, what are you saying?" she gasped.

Mal nodded, believing that she was getting what she wanted the most. "Fischer's on the porch."

"Cobb, you can't do this," Ariadne protested, terrified at the thought of him staying behind in limbo with a projection of his late wife.

"Go check he's alive, Ariadne," Cobb ordered, taking his wife's hand into his.

Having not other choice, Ariadne ran to the porch, which was miles high above the dying city, and found Robert lying on the floor, bound, battered, gagged, and looking both scared and annoyed.

* * *

In the elevator, Arthur continued to quietly count to the music while retaining his grip on the railing.

* * *

In the anteroom, Eames watched as Emma recharged the defibrillator, and sent a second charge through Robert's body, making him jump again.

"Come on, come on."

* * *

"He's here!" Ariadne shouted, helping Robert up and worked on untying him. "And it's time. But you have to come with us!" she then winced as another bolt of lightening shot across the sky. "Cobb, I'm not going to let you lose yourself in here!" she added. "You have to get back to your children!"

"Send Fischer, I have to stay-" Cobb began.

"You _can't_ stay here to be with her," Ariadne cut in.

Cobb turned to face Ariadne while retaining his hold on Mal's hand. "I'm not," he said honestly. "Saito is dead by now. That means he's down here somewhere. I have to stay here and find him." and Ariadne nodded, fully understanding as she turned to help Robert up; he turned back to face his wife, who was glaring at him for tricking her…again. "I can't stay here to be with her because she's not real."

"Not real?" Mal repeated. "I'm the _only_ thing you do believe in anymore."

Cobb shook his head, sadly, wishing that it were true. "I wish you were," he confessed. "But I couldn't make you real. I'm not capable of imagining you in all your complexity and…perfection. As you really were. You're the best I can do. And you're not real."

Mal pulled her hand free, gripped the knife, and plunged it into Cobb's chest, making him cry out. "Here!" she shouted. "Does _this_ feel real?!" raising the knife again, she stood up-

_BANG!_

Mal gasped, clutched her shoulder, and dropped to the floor, bleeding; clutching his chest, Cobb turned and stared at Ariadne, who was gripping the gun in her hands. "What're you doing?" he asked, moving toward his wife.

"Improvising," Ariadne responded, turned, and kicked Robert off the porch.

Robert yelled, alarmed, as he plunged through the air and toward the ground, far below.

* * *

Gasping, Robert sat up as Emma zapped him again; working together, she and Eames grabbed him and worked on removing the paddles from his chest. "Got you! We got you!"

* * *

Ariadne then aimed the gun at Mal, but Cobb blocked her view, shouting. "No! no, no!" and she lowered the gun.

* * *

Freeing the young man of the paddles, Emma and Eames pulled Robert to his feet and pointed toward the double doors. "Get in there – quick!" and they pushed him toward the doors.

* * *

Arthur tightened his grip on the railing as the music ended and he pushed the button on the detonator, making the charges explode, and he shut his eyes tightly as the elevator plunged down the shaft, making the sleepers collided with the floor the moment that the gravity was restored.

* * *

A/N: And now I curse you all with a cliffy! Mwahahahahahaha! R&R everyone!


	8. Chapter 8: INCEPTION

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: I'm back and there's just one chapter left after this.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT: INCEPTION**

Robert walked over to the doors, pushed two buttons, making the locks release and the doors open; he then entered the strong room, where he found his father, dying, lying on a bed whispering something. Hearing this, he walked across the room toward the bed, and as he got closer, he could hear what his father was whispering.

"I…was…dis…dis…"

"I know, Dad," Robert said gently, kneeling down next to the bed. "You were disappointed that I couldn't be you."

"No, no, no," Maurice protested, shaking his head weakly. "I was disappointed…that you _tried_."

Hearing this floored Robert and he felt his own heart grow lighter in response. "Dad…"

* * *

Meanwhile the elevator continued to rocket down the shaft, and Arthur was still death-gripping the railing while watching the sleepers, who were shuddering with the force of the acceleration.

* * *

Having grabbed the detonator from his bag, Eames opened the doors, and both he and Emma watched while he primed the device and the charges.

Maurice tried to raise his hand, which was trembling badly, and pointed toward something, but Robert wasn't sure of what his father was gesturing at, and then he saw that his father was reaching for a safe that was hidden inside his nightstand; realizing what his father wanted, Robert reached out and pushed a button, which lightened up the LED screen.

"Come on, come on," Eames whispered while Emma held onto his arm.

* * *

On the first two levels, both the van and the elevator were _seconds_ away from colliding with both the water and the bottom of the shaft.

* * *

Concentrating, Robert entered the numbers 5, 2, 8, 4, 9, 1 into the keypad and pushed the button; the safe clicked, allowing him to open the door, revealing the will on the top shelf however, it was what was on the bottom shelf that caught his attention. Robert reached inside, his eyes brimming with tears as he began to smile, and pulled out the homemade pinwheel he'd made when he was a child.

"You kept it," he whispered and turned to look at his father, but he was dead. "Dad?" he put down the pinwheel, grabbed his father's lifeless hand, and cried, mourning that his father was dead, again, but was also happy because he knew what his father wanted him to do.

Eames smiled, realizing that the idea had been successfully planted, and he pushed the button on the detonator while Emma sighed with relief.

* * *

All around the base of the complex, the explosives went off, destroying the foundation, and the buildings began to collapse.

* * *

At that same moment, the elevator slammed into the bottom of the shaft, launching Arthur, who shut his eyes and kept his grip, and the sleepers into the air; and back on the first level, the back of the van collided with the water, the three kicks combining into one.

* * *

Feeling the three kicks merging together, Eames and Emma exchanged a look as they braced themselves and looked back at Robert, who was still holding his father's hand, crying and overwhelmed with great love for his late father.

* * *

Down in limbo, Cobb looked up as the storm outside got worse and the city was torn apart in the howling wind; realizing what this meant, he looked over at Ariadne, who was clinging to the railing of the porch, fighting against the intense wind.

"That's the kick, Ariadne!" he shouted over the storm as he held his dying wife close. "You have to go!"

"You're coming!" Ariadne shouted desperately.

Cobb shook his head, even though he wanted to, but there was something that he had to do first. "No, I'm not," he responded. "I'm staying here to find Saito." And he looked at Mal. "And to say goodbye," he added.

Ariadne nodded, almost losing her grip when the wind slammed her again. "Don't lose yourself!" she told him. "Find Saito! And bring him back!"

"I will!" Cobb promised.

Holding him to that promise, Ariadne finally let go, the wind knocking her off the porch and she plunged toward the ground, shutting her eyes tightly.

* * *

As the complex continued to collapse, the floor broke up underneath Robert so that he fell into darkness, and he woke up in the elevator; holding on to each other, Eames and Emma shut their eyes as the floor dropped from underneath them, too, and they also woke up in the elevator.

* * *

Ariadne woke up in the anteroom as it continued collapsing and soon enough the floor broke up and she started falling again, this time waking up in the elevator; moments later, the metal box smashed into the ground completely, and they all woke up in the van, just as the water burst inside, and the vehicle began sinking.

* * *

Back in limbo, Cobb continued holding Mal close as the storm continued tearing the city apart.

"We'd be together forever," Mal whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You promised me."

"I know," Cobb agreed sadly. "But we can't. And I'm sorry."

Mal whimpered, scared. "You remember when you asked me to marry you?" she asked and he nodded. "You said you dreamt that we'd grow old together."

Cobb smiled sadly. "And we did," he whispered, memories of them both old and walking through the city together, holding hands, and Mal remembered this, too. "I miss you more than I can bear," he admitted, "but we had our time together. And now I have to let go."

Mal nodded as he kissed her forehead, and she died in his arms; Cobb held her close as he shut his eyes and began concentrating, reaching out into limbo, searching for his missing friend. "Saito…"

* * *

As the van sank, Robert yanked the sack off his head, doing his best not to let any water into his lungs, freed himself of both the tubes and the seatbelt, and then shoved the back doors open; he then freed 'Browning' and pulled him out of the van, swimming toward the surface.

They broke the surface of the water, 'Browning' pulled the sack off, and they swam for the nearby shore, helping each other out of the water and onto the shore.

"I'm sorry, Robert," 'Browning' apologized.

* * *

Back down in the van, Arthur, Emma, Ariadne, and Yusuf used two regulators to be able to breath; while doing this, Emma checked on Saito and shook her head, indicating that he was gone, and Arthur turned to Cobb while Yusuf left the van and headed for the surface.

Emma and Arthur both shook Cobb, but he didn't wake up, and this alarmed them; Ariadne finally grabbed their elbows and she dragged them out of the van and toward the surface while the van continued sinking, taking the two men with it.

* * *

Robert accepted his godfather's apology, and told him what he'd learned down in the dream. "The will means that Dad wanted me to be my own man, not live for him," he stated. "And I'm going to, Uncle Peter."

'Browning' nodded and glanced at a nearby puddle, where he could see his real face, and Eames smiled. They _had_ been successful.

* * *

Swimming behind some rocks, Yusuf, Arthur, Emma, and Ariadne climbed out of the water, and they all sat on the rocks, breathing hard.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, worried about Cobb.

"Cobb stayed," Ariadne answered, pushing her wet hair out of her face.

"With Mal?" Emma asked, alarmed.

Ariadne shook her head. "No. To find Saito."

Arthur and Emma looked out at the water, where the van was still sinking out of sight, worried. "He'll be lost."

"No," said Ariadne reassuringly. "He'll be alright." And smiled at the couples' uncertain expressions. "Trust me."

* * *

In the Japanese castle, Cobb was seated at the table, staring at the top, remembering _why_ he was there, and that the elderly Japanese man seated across from him was actually Saito.

"So…have you come to kill me?" Saito repeated. "I've been waiting for someone to come for me-"

"Someone from your half dream…Saito?" Cobb asked, speaking up for the first time since being dragged into the room.

Saito squinted at him and, slowly, he recognized the young man. "Cobb?" he rasped and then shook his head. "Not possible – he and I were young men together," he recalled. "And I am an old man-"

"Filled with regret?" Cobb guessed, recalling the job offer to perform inception and finally going back to his children.

Saito nodded, his own memories returning. "Waiting to die alone, yes."

Cobb stared at the spinning top, forcing his mind to fight against the effects of limbo long enough to say what he needed to say to get them out of there…to perform inception _one_ _last time_. "I came back for you," he whispered, "I came to remind you of what you once knew…" he nodded at the top, which had been spinning the whole time without stopping, and Saito stared at it, too, entranced. "That this world is not real."

Saito slowly nodded, remembering the promise. "You came to convince me to honor our arrangement?" he asked.

"Yes," Cobb confirmed, locking eyes with Saito, who was fully listening to him. "And to take a leap of faith." He kept talking and Saito listened, his aged hand slowly moving toward the gun. "Come back and we'll be young men together again. Come back."

* * *

In the first-class cabin of the plane, Cobb slowly opened his eyes and blinked, momentarily confused as he moved his seat to an upright position, and started when the stewardess approached him with a tray containing hot towels.

"Hot towel, sir?" she offered, and he nodded, accepting the towel from the tongs. "We'll be landing in Los Angeles in about twenty minutes," she informed him. "Do you need immigration forms?"

Cobb nodded again and accepted the required papers. "Thank you." And he stared at the papers, wondering whether he should bother filling them out or not while the stewardess then went to Robert, who had an thoughtful expression on his face as he politely declined the towel and accepted the papers; the grief of losing his father was still there, but there was something else there too…a sign that he was ready to move forward to be what _he _wanted to be for himself.

Cobb then looked around the cabin at each person in turn: Eames winked at him while holding a warm towel, Emma, who was sketching in her sketchpad again, smiled at him with a relieved expression; Yusuf, back from his _fourth_ restroom trip, nodded, Arthur chuckled and shook his head with the same relieved expression; Ariadne just smiled in an knowing way, and then he locked eyes with Saito.

Saito, who had a serious, yet haunted, expression on his face, held Cobb's gaze for several seconds before sitting up in his seat and picked up the phone, dialing; with a slight nod of thanks, Cobb looked back at the papers and decided to fill them out after all.

He was going to take a leap of faith.

* * *

A/N: And that wraps it up for this chapter, see you all for the next one. R&R everyone!


	9. Chapter 9: RETURNING HOME

Inception: Dream or Reality? Part 2

A/N: This is the final chapter, folks, and I will be providing an important announcement at the end of the chapter.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Inception_, _Batman,_ or _Doctor Who_. I only own the characters that I created.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE: RETURNING HOME**

Having arrived at LAX, Cobb stood in line at the arrivals area, gripping his carry-on bag tightly; when the immigration official waved him forward, he moved to the counter and handed over his passport, fighting the impulse to turn and run or even faint…it was hard to say which he would do first.

The official glanced at Cobb while examining his passport, which was covered with stamps, glanced at his computer screen, and then back at the young man as he finally stamped the passport, handing it back. "Welcome home, Mr. Cobb."

Cobb smiled, hiding his relief as he accepted his passport back. "Thank you, sir," he responded, spotting Ariadne, who was at the next counter, and he nodded at her, earning a bright smile before moving off to get his luggage. He was _finally_ back.

* * *

Pulling his bag off the luggage merry-go-round, Cobb made his way through the baggage area, exchanging subtle nods with Yusuf, who was collecting his bags, and Eames, who already had his luggage on a cart; Arthur and Emma, smiled broadly at him as they loaded their own cart, and he happily returned the smile as he passed them.

Cobb next moved past Saito, who was busy with a phone call and was relieved to see that the Japanese businessman no longer looked haunted by his short time in limbo, a positive sign that he would be able to move on with his life and his company; he then brushed past Robert, who briefly glanced at him before returning his attention to his phone, and in that moment, Cobb had seen in the young man's eyes a faint flash of recognition that quickly faded, and that was absolutely fine with him.

* * *

The papers in hand, Cobb moved toward the arrival hall, spotting Miles in the crowd waving at him; smiling slightly, he handed the papers to the official at the desk, who nodded after a brief look to confirm that they were in order, and moved through the crowd toward his father-in-law.

Miles took his bag and shook his son-in-law's hand with a huge smile. "Welcome." And then led the way to the parking lot. "This way." And Cobb followed, a free man once again in the United States of America.

* * *

Arriving at the house, which still looked very much the way that Cobb had last seen it, he and Miles headed up the walkway and found Marie waiting for them at the front door with a neutral expression on her face.

"Marie," Cobb greeted warily.

Her white hair pulled back in a tight bun, Marie eyed him with her gray eyes, looking him up and down. "So, you're finally back?" she asked.

"Yes," Cobb answered before Miles could say anything. "The charges are dropped and I'm finally back to stay."

Marie didn't look convinced. "And what about that whole dream business?"

"I'm out, and I'm not going back," Cobb promised. "My kids need me and I need them. I'm going to get a regular architecture job in town and be home every night to be with my kids."

Marie eyed him again, trying to decide to whether believe him or not, and then finally nodded, deciding that he was telling the truth. "All right," she concluded, opening the front door. "I don't know what you've been feeding yourself, Dom, but you're too thin, son."

Both men laughed and they headed inside the house; going into the kitchen with Miles, he put down his bags as his father-in-law headed toward the back porch to get James and Philippa, who were playing outside, their backs to him. Feeling the old uncertainty rearing its ugly head, Cobb pulled out the top and got it spinning on the table, watching it intensely.

"James, Philippa," Miles called out through the doorway, and Cobb looked up, forgetting about the top. "Look who's here." And for the first time in five years, his children turned to look at him, both a bit older now, and he _finally_ saw their beautiful faces.

Their faces lighting up at the sight of their father, James and Philippa ran inside, and Cobb met them on the porch, hugging them both and laughing with tears of delight and relief in his eyes; Miles watched with approval for a moment before heading inside and into the kitchen where Marie was already busy cooking dinner, deciding that it was pointless to waste anymore time and money on a divorce that wasn't going to happen.

Still holding James in his arms, Cobb let Philippa pull him out into the backyard to show him the house that they were building; back on the table, the top was still spinning, but after a few seconds, it began wobbling and finally toppled over, proving that Dominick Cobb was no longer dreaming and was _finally_ awake and back home where he belonged.

* * *

Back at the airport, Emma and Arthur were greeted by Emma's parents, Lydia and Oscar Pepper, and they were taking the luggage to the limo when someone accidentally bumped into Emma, making her lose her carry-on bag, which spilt open, spilling the contents onto the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the man exclaimed as he went to help collect everything.

"It's all right," said Emma, stuffing the various items back into the bag with the help of Arthur and her parents. "These things do happen."

"Even so, I _really_ should pay attention to where I'm going," said the man, handing over her sketchbook. "Here."

"Thanks." Emma took back her sketchbook and put back in her bag, zipping it up. "Have a good day."

"You, too."

The man went one way and the group continued on to the parking lot; once they were out of sight, the man climbed into a waiting black van, and drove off.

* * *

When they got to the farm and were greeted by the rest of the Pepper family, which involved Emma's brothers doing a little roughhousing with Arthur, the couple went to their home and worked on unpacking; Emma was unpacking her carry-on bag and had just taken out her sketchbook, and noticed that it seemed lighter.

Frowning, she flipped through it and paused when she saw that several pages were missing. "Arthur…"

"What is it?" Arthur asked, noting his wife's expression and went over to her, touching her shoulder. "Emma? Sweetie?"

Emma faced her husband, showing him the book. "There's sketches missing, and I think that guy who ran into me took them."

Arthur frowned, recalling the incident at the airport. "Why would anyone want to take your sketches?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, they're just random things that pop into my head and I draw them, just like I've been doing for most of my life. 'course, after everything we've been through for the last five years…"

"Yeah, who knows who could've taken them," Arthur agreed. "And I doubt they'll be useful to whoever took them."

Emma smiled slightly. "Yeah, they're just silly pictures." And they went back to unpacking their luggage, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy, especially since this wasn't the first time that someone had been interested in her sketches without her knowledge.

* * *

Elsewhere, the man from the airport arrived at a fancy mansion in a remote location and entered the building; in a nice-looking study, the man approached the large bay window, where a second man with graying brown hair, a graying brown beard, icy blue eyes, and was dressed in a well-cut gray suit and tie.

"Sire, I have news," said the man, bowing. "They were successful with the Fischer job, and all three are now back in the United States with their loved ones."

The second man, known only as Henri Ducard, nodded, pleased. "Very good, and the items?"

"Here, straight from her sketchbook," said the man, handing over several pages with drawings on them. "Do you believe that the drawings will help find _him_?"

Henri nodded, taking the pages. "Yes, they will," he confirmed, examining the drawings, which consisted of a humanoid in armor shaped like a potato, a strange man made out of solid metal, a creature with a rhino head, and what appeared to be a stone angel. "Emma _is_ the dream child, and as long as she has the dreams and continues to draw the pictures, then that means that _he_ still lives."

"When will we go after _him_?" the man asked, watching as Henri framed the pages and added them to three other framed drawings, one of them a slightly yellowed napkin with a peppershaker-shaped drawing on it.

"Eventually we will, but for now, keep them under observation and collecting the drawings that Emma draws."

"Of course, sire." The man bowed and left the room.

Now completely alone, Henri went over to a seemingly blank wall, pushed a spot, revealing a hidden compartment, and he took out a metal box that was padlocked; carrying it to the desk, he set it down, removed a single iron key from his pocket, and unlocked the box. Removing the padlock and raising the lid, he reached inside and took out a framed photo, handling it gently.

The photo was of a young woman with lustrous dark hair that framed a classically beautiful face, and striking gray-blue eyes; in her arms was a little girl who looked _exactly_ like the woman, which meant they were mother and daughter. Henri gently ran his fingers over the glass with a longing to take the photo out and hug it to his chest, but he didn't…he _couldn't_.

'_One day,'_ he thought._ 'One day, _he_ will pay for what he did to us all, and I will once again be united with you, my love, and so will our daughter, too.'_ He then put the photo back into the box, locked it up again, and returned it to its hiding place; pocketing the key, Henri then pulled out an oddly-shaped metal object that he placed over one eye, and then he turned toward the back of the study.

"The dream child continues to have the dreams," he told someone that he could only see and hear. "As long as she does, then we know that he still lives, and when the time is right, she will take us to him, and he will be destroyed." He then nodded, listening to something invisible. "Yes, yes, I'm aware of what is at stake, and I will make sure that he is eliminated before that day comes."

After a few minutes, Henri took the eye patch off and scowled at it while dealing with the tears that were messing with his eye._ 'God, I _hate_ wearing this stupid thing,'_ he thought sourly, pocketing._ 'But it's the only way that I can talk and remember them…for now.'_ Now weary, he turned off the light and left the study, locking the door behind him.

The study was now completely empty until a _very_ tall shadow seemed to detach from the wall and moved across the shadowy room toward where the framed drawings were on display; the figure had a large bulbous head with a narrow chin, and was wearing a black suit. When it reached the drawings, the figure out with a hand that seemed human-like, except there were only four fingers, with the middle one being large and flipper-like; with a faint growling sound, it traced each frame with its' fingers before drawing away and then it was gone, leaving no trace that it was ever there.

Who or _what_ was Henri working for?

* * *

A/N: And that is the end of this story. Now for the important announcement: I _am_ working on another fanfic for my Inception series, but next week I will start posting my fanfics for my version of Supernatural Season 2. R&R everyone!


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